How much money do households need to achieve a basic standard of living in Singapore today? In 2019, Singapore’s first study on minimum income standards was published to answer this question, focusing on older adults. This year, the study extends this work to the needs of single and partnered parents, with children up to the age of 25 years old. It also updates the budgets previously calculated for older adults. The analysis of household budgets is situated within an extensive field of research on universal human needs and social inclusion. This study adopts a consensus-based focus group methodology involving diverse members of public who deliberate and agree on what constitute basic needs in Singapore today, which are then translated into budgets that households require to meet these needs. The results embody the values and principles that the public identify with, reflect the lived realities and ordinary habits in contemporary Singapore, capture different household arrangements, and take into account the evolving needs for people at various stages of life. As a set of scientific and transparent benchmarks of how much people need to live adequately, the budgets provide a target for policymaking across a range of domains—such as wages, housing, childcare, education, retirement income, social assistance and gender equality—and make concrete what it takes for people to achieve lives of belonging, respect, security and independence.
