Singaporean attitudes towards income inequality and redistribution

• Main Authors: Kek, Mei Shan, Koo, Shiyun, Phua, Regina Shu Fang
• Other Authors: School of Humanities and Social Sciences
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Economic theory::Public finance
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/58991
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Do Singaporeans feel that income inequality is a problem? Are current government efforts sufficient in tackling this issue? Is there demand for more redistribution? The paper seeks to tackle these 3 central questions by conducting a survey. A sample of about 500 Singaporeans were randomly surveyed to analyse perceptions on income inequality and redistribution policies. Several interesting findings emerged from our regression analysis. Notably, respondents who believe that individual effort, rather than exogenous factors, determine income outcomes are more likely to support governmental redistribution to bridge the income gap. In addition, our findings uncovered that the groups of people who support the implementation of minimum wage law include older individuals, females, unemployed individuals and those who strongly disagree that life is fair. On top of that, respondents who disagree that life is fair and those who are unemployed both expressed the need to raise taxes for high income earners.