These are the discussion prompts and notes from the June 2021 book club, when we discussed Liyana Dhamirah’s “Homeless: The Untold Story of a Mother’s Struggle in Crazy Rich Singapore”.
Tag: Poverty
Sustaining an ecosystem of ground-ups and changemakers (Abhishek Bajaj; COVID-19, one year on)
Subscribe to the monthly socialservice.sg newsletter and check out the socialservice.sg podcast! One year ago, we documented community initiatives and… Read more Sustaining an ecosystem of ground-ups and changemakers (Abhishek Bajaj; COVID-19, one year on)
Scarcity, the bandwidth tax, and the effect of debt reduction in low-income Singaporean households: Dr. Ong Qiyan
Ever since the paper was published in 2019, I was excited to speak with its authors about how they used quasi-experimentation to study the relationship between debt relief among low-income individuals and their psychological functioning and economic decision-making. In other words, what is the effect of debt reduction in low-income Singaporean households? With lead author Dr. Ong Qiyan, we also learn more about the concepts of scarcity and the bandwidth tax and their implications for the design of social policies and social services.
On homelessness and housing insecurity, income insecurity and minimum income standard, and bridging research, practice, and policy: Dr. Ng Kok Hoe
In 2019, Dr. Ng Kok Hoe was part of two important studies in Singapore. First, he led the first nationwide street count of homelessness in the country, and second, he was part of the Minimum Income Standard or MIS study, which in a participatory manner determined the household budgets necessary to meet the basic needs of ordinary Singaporeans. Starting with a discussion of his research interests in housing and income insecurity, we hear more about these two studies and the bridging of research, practice, and policy with regard to social work and social service.
“The hunger report”: Singapore’s first nationally representative food insecurity study
While reports of food insecurity have previously featured in the media, Singapore’s first nationally representative food insecurity study documented that about 10 per cent of Singaporean households experienced food insecurity at least once in the last 12 months, and that only 22 per cent of these food-insecure households were receiving food support from an organisation. Published by the Lien Centre for Social Innovation and supported by The Food Bank Singapore, “The hunger report: An in-depth look at food insecurity in Singapore” also reports causes and consequences of food insecurity and offers recommendations.
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