Oral Answer to PQ on Silver Support Scheme PCHI

NOTICE PAPER NO. 391 OF 2025 FOR THE SITTING ON OR AFTER 13 JANUARY 2026
QUESTION NO. 1079 FOR ORAL ANSWER

MP: Mr Abdul Muhaimin Abdul Malik

To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) what is the rationale for maintaining the Silver Support (SS) Scheme’s monthly income per person threshold at $1,500 for the higher tier benefit given that the Local Qualifying Salary has been set at $1,600; and (b) whether the Ministry will review the threshold for SS Scheme to ensure consistency and adequacy of support for lower-income seniors.

Answer:

1. The $1,500 threshold for the higher tier of payouts in the Silver Support Scheme refers to the monthly per capita household income (PCHI). This is not the individual's monthly income. The monthly PCHI is computed as the total gross household monthly income divided by the total number of family members living together in the same household.

2. Our Silver Support Scheme payouts are tiered by flat types and monthly PCHI to ensure that the support is targeted most at seniors who now have little or no family support and resources in their retirement.

3. The Local Qualifying Salary (LQS) serves a different purpose. It is to ensure that firms who wish to employ foreign workers also pay their local workers meaningfully, rather than on token salaries. It is not intended as a measure of retirement adequacy or financial need, and therefore is therefore not correlated with the Silver Support Scheme’s monthly PCHI criteria.

4. We recently enhanced the Silver Support Scheme in 2025 and we raised the qualifying monthly PCHI threshold from $1,800 to $2,300. This is approximately an 28% increase. This enabled more seniors, including those with lower income, to qualify for Silver Support payouts. Let me reassure everyone in this House - We will continue to review Silver Support Scheme periodically.