Last month, Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong delivered Budget 2025 entitled “Onward Together for a Better Tomorrow”.
Budget 2025 contains many important financial measures – including measures specifically targeting the disability community.
The measures announced in Budget 2025 – and elaborated during the week of Committee of Supply (COS) debates in Parliament (held earlier this month between 3 – 10 March) – will shape policy making and implementation in the upcoming financial year and beyond. We at DPA thus find it important to provide some areas of commentary on issues we hope the government will take into consideration as it implements measures announced at Budget and COS 2025.
Education and Employment
During his Budget 2025 Speech, PM Wong noted in particular that the government will be looking to strengthen the post-18 school-to-work transition pathways for persons with disabilities.
DPA published a commentary in the Straits Times the week after Budget 2025 was delivered in Parliament – outlining several items we hope the government will consider in their efforts to strengthen post-18 school-to-work transition pathways for persons with disabilities.
To summarise, in the ST commentary, we recommended:
- How reasonable accommodation protocols mainstreamed in Singapore workplaces can assist in not only improving the inclusivity of the employment landscape in Singapore, but also in creating more structured work environments, increasing channels for clearer communication, and hence reducing miscommunication and negative attitudes towards persons with disabilities in the workplace.
- The need for the concept of reasonable accommodations and the social model of disability to be taught to our children and youth: that while teaching empathy and interactions between those with and without disabilities are important, such elements are the floor and not the ceiling of an inclusive education, and that to strengthen school-to-work transitions, we need to focus not only on our youth with disabilities but also our youth without disabilities – teaching them how to be not only empathetic but allies in coming alongside their disabled peers in removing barriers.
- The need to strengthen SkillsFuture accessibility and inclusion – given that continual skills-upgrading will likely be the norm of the employment landscape.
We believe such points we noted in our ST commentary are important to complement the government’s efforts.
Protocols at the workplace
For example, the extension of the Enabling Employment Credit (EEC) to 2028 is a very welcomed measure in Budget 2025. The EEC provides a wage offset of 20% of the wage capped at $400/month. This provides important financial incentives for employers to hire inclusively. However, as we outline in our ST commentary, studies show that there is a need for Singapore to improve how workplaces are structured in addition to merely increasing the employment rate. And as we elaborated, mainstreaming reasonable accommodation protocols in Singapore workplaces can help assist in this regard.
We hope current efforts to improve capabilities in the workplace such as the Employer Development Grant can incorporate such recommendations to better structure workplaces – hence better preparing the employment landscape for youths with and without disabilities when they enter working age.
Teaching reasonable accommodations and the social model of disability
However, as we noted in our ST commentary, Singapore should not wait for youths to enter the workforce before they begin learning about the concept and practice of reasonable accommodation provision. Singapore schools must teach both students with and without disabilities the concept and practice of reasonable accommodations throughout their education journey. To this, there is potential room for improvement.
The Singapore education system has made progress in promoting inclusivity amongst children and youth with and without disabilities. The government’s investment in Special Education Needs (SEN) officers in each mainstream school – an investment that has seen an increase of SEN officers from 450 in 2016 to approximately 750 in 2024 is a welcomed investment and plays an important role in optimising the number of students with disabilities who can learn alongside their non-disabled peers.
However, it is unclear how Singapore schools are cultivating the understanding of the concept and practice of reasonable accommodation amongst both children/youth with and without disabilities. For example, a 2023 Parliamentary question (PQ) enquired as to whether the government has plans to amend the Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) curriculum to be aligned with the social model of disability as outlined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD). In response to this PQ, the government did not provide examples of how the CCE is aligned with the social model as found in the UN CRPD, but simply noted that the CCE curriculum develops students to be empathetic, and creates opportunities for children/youth with and without disabilities to learn, play, and work together.
Building empathy and opportunities for interaction between our young with and without disabilities is important. However, as noted, such elements should be the floor and not the ceiling of an inclusive education system. Additionally, it is important to note that while important and overlapping, empathy is just one aspect of the social model found in the UN CRPD.
For example, reasonable accommodations, contrary to several misconceptions, are practical and usually follow several objective factors when one assesses what is considered reasonable. The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities for example, have provided guidance through their general comments on employment and equality and non-discrimination on how employers and other professionals such as educators can assess what accommodations are reasonable – taking into consideration factors such as availability of external assistance (i.e. grants, help from disability organisations, etc.), size of the workplace or company, etc. Empathy on the other hand is a general concept and can be potentially subjective.
Our youths with and without disabilities should enter the workforce ready and knowledgeable in the concept and practice of reasonable accommodation provision. Yet, as many of us disabled adults can attest to, it is not uncommon to encounter non-disabled peers in everyday spaces who are not familiar with the concept of reasonable accommodations.
Lifelong learning opportunities
During the COS debates of the Ministry of Education (MOE), the government made mention of a programme started last year between SG Enable (SGE) and Institute of Technical Education (ITE) aiming to curate internship training and placements for students with disabilities. Such programmes are vital and welcomed.
However, our young will most likely enter an employment landscape where continual skills upgrading post-schooling years will be the norm (if it currently is not already). Thus ensuring inclusivity and equity in lifelong learning opportunities is essential.
Akin to previous years, the government strongly emphasised during both Budget and COS 2025 on their plans to enhance the SkillsFuture system – including elaborating on their plans to enhance existing financial supports while introducing new measures to encourage enterprises and individuals to take up training opportunities through SkillsFuture.
However, as we have noted in previous years – including in a position paper we published last year – persons with disabilities face unique barriers in taking SkillsFuture courses – whether it be inaccessible course materials or inconsistent experiences with attaining reasonable accommodations from training providers. In our position paper, we noted several recommendations including the need for some level of required protocol to ensure accommodation requests are assessed fairly and reasonable accommodations provided in a timely manner, as well as the establishment of an accessibility office within SkillsFuture itself to facilitate technical assistance to training providers. We had shared our position paper with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in November, and while we understand and do not doubt that our recommendations were reviewed, it was disappointing that there was minimal mention of the government’s plans to optimise the accessibility of SkillsFuture for persons with disabilities.
For example, in the MOE COS, when noting about enhancing training opportunities for persons with disabilities, the government noted that these are “works in progress”. While we understand the multifaceted nature of improving accessibility and inclusivity of SkillsFuture, noting that this is a work in progress was also what the government said last year during the 2024 COS when MPs directly enquired about SkillsFuture accessibility and inclusion for learners with disabilities. While the programme started by SGE and ITE is important, it is a programme targeted at students and thus the need to structure the SkillsFuture system itself to adult learners post-schooling years is important.
In addition to DPA research, other findings such as those outlined in the December 2024 disability trends report by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) and the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) shows the need for improvement. According to the MSF and NCSS report, persons with disabilities participate in training programmes at approximately half the rate of the general public. Out of those with disabilities surveyed who noted not participating in training programmes, 13% noted timings not being suitable and 12% cited financial costs as a main reason for not participating.
The financial measures announced at Budget 2025 could potentially assist in addressing a part of such issues. For instance, beginning this month, individuals under the SkillsFuture Level-up Programme can apply up to a $3,000 monthly training allowance (up to 24 months) when they enrol in selected full-time courses. Budget 2025 extends this to part-time training courses where individuals can apply for a $300 monthly training allowance for selected part-time training courses.
The addition of the part-time training allowance can potentially address concerns for the 13% of persons with disabilities in the MSF/NCSS report who noted timing suitability in not participating in training programmes. Similarly, the full-time training allowance beginning this month under the SkillsFuture Level-up Programme, along with other measures in Budget 2025 such as revisions to the WSS scheme aiming to support lower-wage workers is a potentially positive move for the 12 % in the MSF/NCSS report who noted financial concerns for not participating in training.
However, if SkillsFuture remains with no requirement or protocol for training providers to provide reasonable accommodations, then reasonable accommodation provision – something essential for persons with disabilities to participate in educational spaces including in training programmes – will remain up to each training provider. As noted, according to our research and conversations with persons with disabilities, this has led to inconsistencies as to whether persons with disabilities can attain reasonable accommodations and hence participate in training programmes. It is worth noting that more than the 12% who noted financial concerns, and the 13% who noted timing concerns, 14% of those surveyed who did not participate in training cited “The training provider may not be able to accommodate my specific needs/Venue of the trainings are not accessible” as a reason for not participating.
Some level of requirement for training providers to assess accommodation requests fairly and provide reasonable accommodations within the SkillsFuture system itself is thus needed.
Workplace Transformation
On a broader note, the SkillsFuture system is to also assist workplaces in keeping up with emerging and rapidly changing technologies and trends such as increasing digitalisation and AI.
To this, new measures in Budget 2025 such as the SkillsFuture Workforce Development Grant (WDG) – which seeks to bring together existing schemes administered by Workforce Singapore (WSG) and SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG), and to simplify the application process for employers will assist.
The new SkillsFuture WDG, which will go into effect next year, also aims to provide higher funding support of up to 70% for job redesign activities. As illustrated during the COS of the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), such redesign activities include the transformation of typically manual tasks to more digitalised processes through database and information systems installations and transformations.
As we have previously highlighted in previous budgets, such workforce transformations, while important, should not and must not lead to an employment landscape that widens existing digital divides for the disability community. We thus recommend that measures be taken to enhance such items as the WDG to minimise any widening of digital divides. For instance, the government can look into providing further subsidies for workforce transformation projects that also aim to ensure end results that lead to products, services, or job roles that take into consideration access needs faced by persons with disabilities.
Other Financial Measures in Budget 2025
In addition to the government’s announcement of a multi-year endeavour to strengthen the school-to-work transition for persons with disabilities, Budget 2025 contained a number of financial measures aimed at the disability community. These include:
- increase in Home Caregiving Grant (HCG)
- increase in subsidy rates for adult disability services such as increase in maximum qualifying per capita household income (PCHI) for subsidies
- expansion of match retirement savings scheme
- dollar-for-dollar matching grant for top-ups by lower- and middle-income caregivers to the trust accounts,
Such measures are very important and greatly welcomed. For example, the Assistive Technology Fund (ATF) is a government financial support scheme aiming to provide up to 90% of subsidies for persons with disabilities to purchase assistive technologies (with a lifetime cap of $40,000). Given how assistive technologies can occur at rather high costs, the ATF is a necessary support measure. Currently, to be eligible for the ATF, one must have a monthly PCHI of no more than $2,600. This means that a person with disability living in the average PCHI household (which stood at $3,615 in 2024) would not qualify for such important subsidies under the ATF. However, announced at the MSF COS 2025, the monthly PCHI eligibility requirement to qualify for ATF subsidies will be raised to $4,800 beginning January 2026. This will greatly increase the number of Singaporeans and permanent residents with disabilities who can qualify for subsidies in the purchase, repair, replacement, or upgrading of important and potentially expensive assistive technologies – a very welcomed measure.
Similar can be said about the other measures – especially the dollar-for-dollar matching grant for top-ups by lower- and middle-income caregivers to the trust accounts.
However, in addition to adjusting PCHI eligibility requirements, we recommend that the government can look into potentially adjusting other aspects of means-testing in ensuring such important financial assistance reaches as many people as possible who are in need of assistance.
For example, enhancements to the HCG announced at Budget and COS 2025 are important. Beginning in April 2026, the monthly PCHI eligibility requirement will be raised to $4,800 and the maximum monthly cash payouts will be raised to $600. These are important measures. However, there are other aspects of the means-testing process of the HCG that can be enhanced to better ensure that more people who require such support may be able to access them. For instance, under the HCG, in addition to meeting monthly PCHI requirements, one must be unable to perform three out of the six activities of daily living (ADLs). The six ADLs are eating, bathing, dressing, transferring, toileting, and walking or moving around.
Means-testing is important to ensure that those who are in most need of support are prioritised. However, it is important to ensure some level of flexibility in means-testing to ensure that those who may not be the most vulnerable but who also may require assistance may access some level of support. Thus, we recommend that further enhancements to the HCG can be made such as tailoring the HCG to ensure that those who require some assistance or who are unable to perform one or two of the six ADLs can still access some level of support – i.e. such individuals may still be able to access monthly cash payouts but just lower than that of those who need assistance or who are unable to perform three or more of the six ADLs.
Similarly, the expansion of the matched retirement savings scheme to eligible persons with disabilities of all ages is important to make it easier to increase the retirement savings for persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities tend to be over-represented in the lower-income brackets due to economic inequalities, and thus such a measure is greatly welcomed.
One of the means-testing requirements for persons with disabilities to be eligible for the matched retirement savings scheme is to earn an average monthly income of no more than $4,000. However, due to economic inequalities, persons with disabilities who earn a decent income may still find it difficult to save for retirement. Persons with disabilities – including those who earn a decent wage – are usually one of the first to be unemployed during economic crises. Thus, akin to our recommendation with the HCG, we recommend the government to look into allowing persons with disabilities who earn $4,000 – $6,000 to also be eligible for the matched retirement savings scheme – i.e. such individuals could still qualify for the scheme but receive a lower matching amount compared to those earning an average monthly income of below $4,000.
Moreover, in addition to the ATF, several other important subsidy schemes will have their monthly PCHI means-testing requirement raised to $4,800 – this includes the Enabling Transport Subsidy (ETS) and the Taxi Subsidy Scheme (TSS). As with the ATF, the raise in the monthly PCHI cap to $4,800 to qualify for the ETS and the TSS are definitely welcomed. However, both the ETS and the TSS have other rather stringent means-testing requirements that can and should be adjusted to provide support to more persons with disabilities.
For example, the ETS and the TSS provide much needed subsidies up to 80% for transport fees and taxi fees respectively. However, one can only utilise the ETS for transport arranged by a social service agency (SSA) in attending Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children (EIPIC), Special Education (SPED) schools, Day Activity Centres (DACs), Sheltered Workshops (SWs) and Special Student Care Centres (SSCCs). Additionally, one can only utilise the TSS if they are “Certified as unable to take public transport and totally dependent on taxis for travel”. Moreover, to qualify for the TSS, one must be “currently schooling, working, or attending employment-related training supported by SG Enable”.
As we have previously commented with the TSS, persons with disabilities who can take public transport still commonly have no choice but to at times rely on taxi or other point-to-point (p2p) services due to access barriers – i.e. times of disruption such as during construction projects which can often make a familiar accessible route inaccessible.
Akin to our recommendations with the HCG and the matched retirement savings scheme, we recommend the government to consider adjusting the means-testing requirements – i.e. where individuals with disabilities who may occasionally require taxi or P2P services are eligible for the TSS but receive lower subsidy rates compared to individuals with disabilities who have to rely on taxi or P2P services more extensively.
Moreover, when we enquired further, the requirement for one to currently be schooling, working, or attending employment-related training supported by SG Enable applies also to the purpose of the travel via taxi – i.e. one can only use the subsidy by the TSS only for schooling, working, or attending employment-related training supported by SG Enable. However, if the purpose of means-testing is to target or ensure assistance is provided to the most vulnerable, then such a requirement may not achieve this purpose. For instance, it is often those who are out of work and looking for opportunities that are the ones who would benefit from being able to travel via taxi or p2p services on a subsidised rate. Additionally, only being able to utilise the TSS for these limited purposes should be revised to include other important travel purposes.
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As PM Wong noted in his budget speech, we currently live in uncertain times – with growing geopolitical tensions and rapidly changing economic trends having an impact on our island nation. Persons with disabilities must not be left behind, but instead,, our everyday spaces from our workplaces to our formal and informal education spaces to our areas of daily living and recreation – along with how such spaces and areas intersect together – must be designed from the get-go to include disabled realities. The measures outlined in Budget 2025 and elaborated during COS 2025 are important and as noted, welcomed. However, we hope the government will consider our recommendations above on how they can build off such measures to more effectively address realities faced by persons with disabilities while building a Singapore to withstand the uncertain times we are living in in a manner that optimally includes disabled realities from the get-go. By doing so, we can more effectively go onward together for a better tomorrow.
