Trial of unconditional cash aid for needy breaks new ground

A novel project that gave 75 lowincome households between $300 and $550 a month for 18 months has broken new ground in understanding the effects of unconditional cash transfers here.

- Ng Wei Kai

Its results will help policymakers understand the costs and benefits of such schemes, and hopefully draw more funding for social innovation - though questions remain on its effectiveness in creating self-sustaining improvements in incomes and addressing wider gaps, said experts, its funders and researchers who worked on the programme.

It was run as a randomised control trial between May 2022 and November 2023 and found that the cash improved participants' mental health and job security, compared with the control group of 95 households.

The project, known as the Family Empowerment Programme, was organised by social service agency AWWA and provided the cash with no strings attached.

To qualify, households must have had a monthly income equal to or less than $1,000 per person, or a total income equal to or less than $3,600 before Central Provident Fund deductions, among other conditions, such as having at least one adult capable of work between the ages of 16 and 65.

The findings revealed a clear and consistent pattern of improvements in families' lives throughout a wide range of domains, said Dr Ng Kok Hoe, senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

By the end of the programme, 60 per cent of participants who received the cash were classified "well" in terms of their level of psychological distress, compared with 36 per cent of those in the control group.

When the project concluded, 27 per cent of those receiving the cash also reported better job security than before, higher than 15 per cent of those in the control group who said the same.

This meant landing more secure contracts, from part-time to fulltime work, for example.