Social Services in Singapore

Social Services in Singapore

Introduction

Many countries across the world are faced with the challenge of taking care of their elderly people.  This is a group of people who are in a delicate stage of life where they need to be well taken care of to avoid their premature death due to elderly health issues or having them live in isolation. Ageing is one of the most critical social issues that affect the current society. This is because if the elderly people do not have a source of living the rate of dependency is increased. As a result, they become a burden to the society. Furthermore, because of ageing, their healthcare needs are so demanding that it requires people with stable income to maintain their health. Therefore, there is a need for the governments to have policies that would support the ageing people to help them to lead a comfortable life.  This study explores the issue of ageing population as a major social issue in Singapore and examines the policies that have been put in place by the government of Singapore to take care of these people and how it compares with other countries.

The ageing population in Singapore

One of the major social issues affecting the people of Singapore is increased ageing rate. Singapore is among the countries with the highest rate of ageing in the world. Between the year 2005 and 2030, this country is projected that it will have doubled in percentage the population o f people aged 65 years from 8% to 20%( Wen, 2013). This can be attributed to a number of factors which includes an increase in the level of life expectancy and reduced fertility rate in this population as this country continues to develop. The Total Fertility Rate in Singapore plummeted ever since the years following the 1970s when the official “Stop at Two” policy that sought to control the rise in the birthrates in a country that had continued to overstretch the few resources of the country was implemented (Wen, 2013). Later one, this policy of the birthrate was to be reversed by another policy that stated “Have three or more if can afford” it failed to restore the condition high birthrate.  However, this new policy failed to impact on the population birthrate.

The number of the elderly is projected that it would increase by the year 2030 to about 900000 people. This is an indication that majority of these ageing people would be living alone and end up dying alone. To make the lives of these elderly people meaningful and let them live happily, some facilities have been provided to cater for their needs such as relatively convenient bus services, the creation of the wellness centers and covered walkways (“Facilities for elderly won’t work if they don’t leave house”, 2018).   However, such kind of services and facilities would be meaningless if this elderly group of people will not come out to interact with other people and do some exercises to keep them fit.

One of the major risks that face the elderly group of people in Singapore is the risk of social and emotional isolation. The kind of life led by these people is that in  which they lose contacts with anyone leading to social isolation and since they have no one to relate to they become emotionally detached too(BOH, 2018). There are places with center based activities that this group of elders can join and enjoy such kind of social interaction to avoid being fully isolated.

The policies that relate to the ageing people in the United Kingdom

The population of the United Kingdom is projected to rise to 63.6 million people in the year 2021 up from the 59.2 million people in the year 1998(Dunnell, 2000). It is also projected that the population of the children aged 16 years will fall while the population of the aged will increase where the people aged above 60 years will increase.

In foreseeing these projections, the government has tasked the Foresight panel that comes up with the policies that look into the affairs of the ageing population.  Such policies include the healthcare policy that is meant to take care of the health issues of the ageing people (Dunnell, 2000). Since the most of the healthcare services in the United Kingdom are government funded, the government has taken into account the resource allocation of these elderly people for their healthcare services. This is a move that is set to reduce the rates of premature death among the elderly due to old age health issues. Again, the government has put in place foresight program panel that looks into issues affecting the elderly including labor, leisure, and learning. The government through the resolution of this panel has put in place policy that enforces retention of the older workers and retains their skills and also the removed the age limit of retirement. This enables the older people to support themselves in their lives economically and still interact with other people socially making them live longer. This is because it reduces the high level of dependency rate since these elderly people are able to provide for their own needs.

Again, the government of U.K has put in place the public health policy that is meant to help the Singaporeans to stay healthy regardless of the circumstances. This policy eventually assists the elderly Singaporeans despite their situation. Additionally the government of the United Kingdom passed a policy through the ministry of health that helped the government to set aside funding to support the older people (“2010 to 2015 government policy: older people – GOV.UK”, 2018).This is to reduce their social isolation and loneliness and also help them remain active.

The policies in Singapore that focus on ageing population compared to the U.K

The government of Singapore is trying its best to place policies that would help in taking care of the needs of the ageing population. For instance, there is some consideration to look into the implementation of the policy that will look into the employment and employability of the elderly or just remove the retirement age limit to reduce dependence rates.  Compared to the United Kingdom, Singapore is still a few steps away to implementing the policies that would take care of the interests of the ageing people.

Singapore has policies that operate the schemes which take of the elderly such as the Eldershield.  This is a scheme that is enhanced by the Ministry of Health to address the   demands of the elderly people who are indisposed due to old age. There is also another policy for the MediShield Life is a   mandatory type of insurance for every Singaporean that would help them even in the old age(“MediShield Life”, 2018). The MediShield is an insurance plan is operated by Central Provident Fund and enables the patients to pay large hospital bills in chosen reliable but costly health facilities. Furthermore the government introduced one package referred to as t the Pioneer Generation Package that is offered to the pioneers in Singapore to appreciate their good in Singapore. Such packages benefit the citizens when they get older as they are already covered.

The United Kingdom is highly advanced that it already has health care policy that provides for the healthcare services for the elderly people from the government accounts(Dunnell, 2000).. On the other in Singapore, the elderly people are supposed to meet their own healthcare needs. Instead of taking upon itself to provide for the medical services of the ageing people, the government of Singapore has introduced the Medisave policy to take care of the healthcare of the elderly(Chan, 2001). Thus, through this policy, a person saves part of their earnings for his or her medical covers when he or she gets old.

Furthermore, in the United Kingdom, they already have the policy that eliminates the age retirement of the elderly people. The policy encourages the retention of the elderly in their jobs with their skills.  Thus this reduces the dependency rate from the elderly persons since they are able to cater for their needs. On the other hand, this policy is yet to be implemented in Singapore and as result there is a high rate of dependence and most of the elderly group are poor since they have got no source of income.

Again, Singapore’s government policy limiting the birthrate highly affected the country’s dependence rate years later. Even though the government has tried to reverse the policy by introducing the new policy of “Have Three or more if can afford,” the government has failed in their attempt to balance the population leading to a population of more elderly people than the working youth ( Wen, 2013). Since there was no policy in the U.K that limited the population, it has a balanced population where the working youth can take care or the elderly.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Singapore remains to be among countries with the highest ageing rate in the world. This is a factor attributed to the high life expectancy rate and the low level of fertility among its population. As a result, the country has a lot of ageing who are slowly suffering from social and emotional isolation. There are no firm policies that seek to improve the lives of the elderly in Singapore. Unlike the other welfare states such as the United Kingdom, Singapore has no policy to provide healthcare services for the ageing population and instead they only have the Medisave policy that encourages people to save for their health. Again, in the U.K there is no retirement for the elderly and therefore they can fend for themselves reducing dependence rate. The government needs to put in place policies that will take care of the needs of the elderly including their health to minimize the rate of their premature death.

Reference

BOH, S. (2018). Seniors who live alone risk social isolation. The Straits Times. Retrieved 13 April 2018, from http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/seniors-who-live-alone-risk-social-isolation

Chan, A. (2001). Singapore’s changing structure and the policy implications for financial security, employment, living arrangements and health care. Asian Metacentre For Population And Sustainable Analysis.

Dunnell, K. (2000). Policy responses to population ageing and population decline in the United Kingdom. Life, 2032, 33.

Facilities for elderly won’t work if they don’t leave house. (2018). The Straits Times. Retrieved 13 April 2018, from http://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/facilities-for-elderly-wont-work-if-they-dont-leave-house

Wen, W. K. (2013). Futures of ageing in Singapore. Journal of Futures Studies, 17(3), 81-102.

2010 to 2015 government policy: older people – GOV.UK. (2018). Gov.uk. Retrieved 14 April 2018, from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2010-to-2015-government-policy-older-people/2010-to-2015-government-policy-older-people

MediShield Life. (2018). Healthhub.sg. Retrieved 14 April 2018, from https://www.healthhub.sg/a-z/costs-and-financing/6/medishield-life