Singapore is not that far removed from the society of hunter-gatherers. People do worry about where the next meal is coming from. Not having enough food is the Singaporeans’ second biggest fear, overshadowed only by the fear of losing their jobs in the current recession. That’s what market research firm Synovate found in a survey, reports the Straits Times. A free lunch is hard to get in Singapore. There are no food stamps, no dole. People eat what they can afford to get. Just like the hunter-gatherers.
Singapore now has 77,000 millionaires, the Straits Times reported in June this year. The total population: 4.8 million.
“The average monthly household income from work among all resident households rose to 6,280 Singapore dollars ($4,120) in 2007, up from 5,730 Singapore dollars in 2006,” the Singapore Department of Statistics said in its report, Key Household Income Trends 2007. “The higher-income employed households continued to experience faster income growth, reflecting higher wage increases for skilled and knowledge workers... The Gini coefficient, which is a summary measure of income inequality, increased from 0.472 in 2006 to 0.485 in 2008,” it added.
Western countries have a lower income gap. America has a Gini coefficient of 0.45. The UN Habitat report released in October says the Gini coefficient is:
- Lowest in the world — below 0.25 — in Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, and Slovenia
- Low — between 0.25 and 0.3 — in Austria, Belgium,France, Germany, Luxemburg, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland
- “Relatively high by European standards” — between 0.32 and 0.33 — in Greece, Ireland and Italy, Portugal (0.363), Britain (0.343), and Spain (0.34).
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