Retirement adequacy of mature workers in Singapore

• Main Authors: VAITHIANATHAN, Rhema, HOSKINS, Stephen
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2017
• Subjects: Retirement; workers; ageing; Singapore; Asian Studies; Behavioral Economics; Gerontology; Labor Economics
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soe_research/2244; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soe_research/article/3243/viewcontent/20180313__LRC_2017_Publication__Retirement_Adequacy_of_Mature_Workers_.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

In the last decade, the Singapore resident population has grown older with more elderly and fewer younger people. As Singapore Department of Statistics noted, the proportion of residents aged 65 years and over has increased from 9% to 13% over the past ten years. There are now fewer working-age adults to support each resident aged 65 years and over as indicated by the falling resident old-age support ratio from 7.7 in 2007 to 5.1 in 2017. The support ratio is expected to halve to 2.5 by 2030. As Singaporeans are both living and working longer, it is vital for the Labour Movement to understand issues surrounding mature workers and be adequately prepared with relevant programmes. One pertinent aspect of mature workers is their retirement adequacy. Together with the Centre for Research on the Economics of Ageing (CREA), Ong Teng Cheong Labour Leadership Institute (OTCi) undertook a joint research project on ‘Retirement Adequacy of Mature Workers in Singapore’. The study sought to observe differences in Union members and non-Union members on income, spending, savings and employment stability to better understand the retirement adequacy of workers aged 50 to 70, and to sharpen programmes and advocacy efforts accordingly.