Tharman on unemployment benefits or unemployment insurance

𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐖𝐏’𝐬 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭.

𝐈𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡.

The best form of welfare is employment.

Mr Tharman said at a virtual dialogue organized by the LKYSPP that the Singapore Government has managed to keep 𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 than elsewhere because it has been able to quickly coordinate a range of programmes that involve 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐣𝐨𝐛𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲.

𝙐𝙣𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙧 𝙪𝙣𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙪𝙣𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩.

“We don't need it in Singapore yet because our unemployment rates are very low and we've been able to get people back into jobs relatively quickly,” he said in response to a question from a viewer on his thoughts on unemployment insurance.

Given the weak demand by employers for permanent job roles, Singapore is devising schemes where the Government will subsidise attachments and traineeships in firms so that people are “doing real work”, which would hopefully lead to a permanent job position, Mr Tharman said.

“If you do that 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐲 well, we won't need to invent an unemployment insurance scheme. If we fail and, over time, we find we have high structural unemployment, you'll need some form of unemployment benefit scheme,” he said.

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𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

Structural unemployment is long-lasting unemployment that comes about because though jobs are available, there’s a serious mismatch between what companies need and what available workers offer.

Structural unemployment can last for decades and usually requires a radical change to reverse.