Breakdown of Median Monthly Income of Employed Residents in Last Five Years
Ministry of ManpowerSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns Assoc Prof Walter Theseira’s inquiry regarding median monthly income data for employed residents categorized by marital status, gender, age, and number of children. Minister Josephine Teo noted that married men earn more than single men, while single women aged 30 and above earn more than married women. Among mothers, those with two children generally earn more than those with one or three or more children, though similar data is not collected for males. Minister Josephine Teo explained that income disparities are influenced by factors such as education, caregiving responsibilities, and occupational preferences. She concluded that data alone cannot establish causal impacts on income as marital and parental statuses are themselves influenced by various underlying socio-economic and demographic factors.
Transcript
36 Assoc Prof Walter Theseira asked the Minister for Manpower in the last five years (a) what is the median monthly income of employed residents by marital status, gender, and age group; and (b) what is the median monthly income of employed residents by number of children, gender, and age group.
Mrs Josephine Teo: The breakdown of median gross monthly income of full-time employed residents by sex, age and marital status is provided in Table 1. Married males earned more than single males across all age groups, whereas single females aged 30 and above earned more than married females of the same age group. Among singles of the same age group, women earned more than men; while among those married of the same age group, men earned more than women.
Table 2 provides the breakdown of median gross monthly income of full-time employed female residents by age and the number of children given birth to. We do not collect such data for males. Among women aged 30 and above with children, those with two children tended to earn more than those with just one child or three or more children in the same age group. It is not straightforward to compare to those with no children as they include both single and married women.
Data alone cannot establish the causal impact on income of marital status and number of children; as these factors can themselves be influenced by income and education levels. There are also generational differences, for example, in age of marriage, rates of divorce, and the division of caregiving and household responsibilities between married couples. Finally, the data does not account for differences in occupations between men and women, and in preferences for part-time work, which could also affect incomes.
