Number of families on key financial aid scheme dips to five-year low

The number of lower-income families who received help from a key government financial aid scheme fell to a five-year low in 2024, as the economy and job market improved in the years after the Covid-19 pandemic ended.

- Theresa Tan Senior Social Affairs Correspondent

There were 20,825 families on the ComCare Short-to-Medium-Term Assistance (SMTA) scheme in 2024, a 9 per cent drop from the 22,960 families in 2023.

The latest figure is also 40 per cent lower than the 34,858 families in 2020, when Covid-19 first upended the world.

The SMTA provides families with temporary financial aid to meet basic living expenses. It is one of the main schemes under ComCare, the key social safety net for lower-income families here.

The 2025 Supporting Lower-Income Households Trends report released by the Ministry of Social and Family Development on Dec 16 stated that the fall in the SMTA numbers reflected “an expansion in the economy and labour market from 2020 to 2024”.

The increase in support from other government schemes such as the Assurance Package, which gives lowerand middle-income Singaporeans cash, CDC vouchers and other benefits to cushion the goods and services tax increase, also contributed to the fall in the same period.

While the amount of cash given under the SMTA varies depending on the family’s income and needs, the median monthly sum given per beneficiary in the family was $380 a month in 2024.

Families on the SMTA received help for a median cumulative period of six months in 2024, said the second edition of the report, which outlined key trends in the ComCare schemes.