11 Sep 2019
STATEMENT BY THE PERMANENT MISSION OF SINGAPORE DURING THE CLUSTERED INTERACTIVE DIALOGUE WITH THE INDEPENDENT EXPERT ON THE RIGHTS OF OLDER PERSONS, 11 SEPTEMBER 2019
Mr President,
We thank the Independent Expert for her Report and her continued efforts to shine a spotlight on the needs and accumulated vulnerabilities of older persons around the world. We further thank her for her contributions to the mandate in recent years, and for her constructive engagement with Singapore during her visit in 2016.
Based on the latest statistics, Singaporeans now have the longest life expectancy at birth in the world, and older persons are expected to form approximately half of our total population by 2050. Supporting older persons to stay active and engaged, and to feel a sense of worth and purpose, is a priority for our government.
The Singapore government has pledged to support older workers and the businesses that employ them. The government recently accepted in full the recommendations by the Tripartite Workgroup on Older Workers and has pledged to raise both the retirement age and the re-employment age for all employers in 2022 to 63 and 68 respectively. This will enable Singaporeans to work longer if they wish to do so. In a long-term move to help older Singaporeans build up their retirement funds, social security contributions for those aged above 55 to 60 will also be raised by 11 percentage points over the next 10 years. In addition, the government will introduce a support package next year to help businesses to adjust to these new arrangements.
To provide greater healthcare support for seniors, we are introducing Careshield Life, a long term care insurance scheme. Under the scheme, those suffering from severe disabilities will receive lifetime cash pay outs that increase over time to provide financial protection against the uncertainty of long-term care costs.
Through such programmes, Singapore is working to enable our seniors to remain active, empowered, and resilient, well into their silver years.
Thank you.
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