Singaporeans express skepticism that median salary of residents is above S$4,400

Many Singaporeans have expressed their skepticism that the median salary of Singaporeans and permanent residents rose to above S$4,400. The report released on Thursday, November 29, analyzed “the key trends of the resident labour force in Singapore, based on data from the Comprehensive Labour Force Survey conducted in mid-2018”, according to the Ministry of Manpower.

According to the report, “Workers continued to earn higher incomes in the recent five years. The real median gross monthly income of full-time employed residents grew by 3.5% p.a. from 2013 to 2018, significantly higher than 1.9% p.a. in the previous five years (i.e. 2008 to 2013).”

Many netizens took to Facebook to express that the statistics were not a complete reflection as it only showed the median gross monthly income of full-time employed residents, who were a mix of both Singaporeans and Permanent Residents.

One netizen clarified:

One netizen, Chris Kuan said, “Taken at the surface it appears the Singapore economy is very good at generating wages that are higher than many of our advanced economy peers. But the fact is wages produced by the Singapore economy does not comprised only Singaporeans but every one including 2m foreigners both non residents and permanent residents”.

He continued, “The true level of wages is a lot lower in a like for like comparison with other countries. The govie should publish one number for Singaporeans and another for the whole workforce”.

Furthermore, last year, the median income was at S$4232, with the median salary being S$4056 in 2016. Netizens also said that while the median salary may have increased only slightly, so did the cost of utilities in Singapore.

The full MOM report can be found here. ________________________________________________________________________

obbana@theindependent.sg