SINGAPORE: A local Reddit user was “wondering what’s the standard around here” for giving money to parents, and asked How “much $ do you give your parents monthly?”
On an Ask Singapore Reddit thread on Thursday (Feb 23), u/needleintheh4y wrote that he is 30 years old and has two other siblings. He gives his parents $400 a month, which is ten per cent of his income.
“I don’t live with my parents and haven’t for 5 years. mother doesn’t work, father work low paying job,” he added.
The question sparked a lively discussion on the thread, as many Redditors weighed in on the matter.
One gives his parents $500 monthly, plus extras such as holiday trips and meals.
Another commenter, who is single and living with their parents, wrote that while he doesn’t give a fixed monthly amount, he does “i top up 8k to their cpf each yearly(for tax deduction, they can ownself draw) and pay for their meals on weekends plus let them use my credit card for groceries and petrol for family car.”
A commenter with a take-home income of $1900 wrote, “I give my mother 200 and my father 100 and my younger sister 100,” adding “I pay the bills for the house like utilities, garbage (total up to 400).”
One wrote that he sticks to the “10% rule.”
“Unfortunately my parents are quite dependent on me and they are the typical Chinese parents where they equate money to filial piety, I give them $800. I used to earn $3000 so that was more than 25% of gross pay,” wrote another.
A Reddit user chimed in, “Yeah I give 10% too. My dad once told me if other people can tithe 10% to places of worship, then I can give to parents. I find that reasonable la.”
A 2022 Medium article says that this 10 per cent is standard for many Singaporeans.
“Thanks to answer.sg we now know how much other Singaporeans give their parents. As of now, the survey has gathered close to 7,000 participants with the median result being 10% of salary. This serves as a good starting point on your thought process of how much to give your parents as well.” /TISG