SINGAPORE : In a strong push to raise employment rates for older Singaporeans, and help them save more for old age, higher tiers of Workfare for workers above 55 will be introduced.

This means a higher Workfare payout, up to double for younger workers.

This was announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his National Day Rally speech on Sunday.

Currently a worker aged 60 earning S$1,000 gets 10 percent of his salary, which is S$100 a month from the Workfare Income Supplement, or WIS scheme.

Under the revised scheme, this will double to S$200 a month, or 20 percent of salary.

Mr Lee said: "So that when the employer looks at the worker, he calculates, between an older man and a younger man, I think the older man has this extra little edge. And between an older worker and a foreign worker, foreign worker you pay levy, older worker he gets Workfare. So that's an additional leg-up for the older worker."

"We had planned to do this when we review the Workfare scheme in a few years. But I think we had better not wait. We will move it now to make a strong push to get people working. This will make a big difference. More take-home pay and more CPF. Encourage older workers to be re-employed. Encourage employers to hire older workers, instead of replacing them by younger ones or foreign workers." - CNA/ch

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