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Podcast: socialservice.sg presents: "Before the Ballot"
Episode: What is “a basic standard of living”? A deeper research and methodological dive into the Minimum Income Standard study (with Drs. Ng Kok Hoe and Teo You Yenn)
Description: Since the publication of the Minimum Income Standard (MIS) study (whatsenough.sg), which sought to establish what constituted basic needs in Singapore and the household budgets needed to meet those needs, public discussion has taken two related directions. First, focusing solely on the S$6,426 dollar figure needed per month for partnered parents with two children, and then extolling Singaporeans to “spend within their means”. And second, criticising the study’s methodology without, in my opinion, fully understanding it. Some said, for instance, that the MIS study was analogous to interviewing colleagues about daily budgets before asking bosses for a salary...