This report presents the latest MIS budgets after adjusting for inflation between 2020 and 2022. The monthly MIS budgets for three indicative household types increased by 4%–5% between 2020 and 2022, to:
- $3,369 for a single parent with one child aged 2–6 years old;
- $6,693 for a couple with two children aged 7–12 and 13–18 years old; and
- $1,492 for a single elderly person 65 years and older.
This is a gentler increase compared to price inflation, which hit 8.6% over the same period. For most item categories, increases in the MIS budget are comparable to inflation levels. But the rise in housing costs for the single parent household surpassed inflation, while transport costs in the MIS budgets lagged significantly behind inflation. From 2020 to 2022, the general wage situation and level of support from public schemes did not change significantly, even as living costs as reflected by the MIS budgets grew.
For more information, please see:
How did the MIS research involve Singaporeans from diverse socio-economic backgrounds to find consensus about what a basic standard of living should entail? Read more about the MIS method in this op-ed by Teo You Yenn and Ng Kok Hoe of the MIS team, published in October 2021:
- ‘How study drew up what makes for basic living standard in Singapore‘ by Teo You Yenn and Ng Kok Hoe (The Straits Times, 13 October 2021)