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ComLink+ families have improved outcomes in income security, preschool education and housing

Type: Press Releases

Topic(s): Financial Assistance & Social Support

Published on 16 December 2025

  1. The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) has released the 2025 Supporting Lower-Income Households Trends Report. The report provides updates on trends in ComCare assistance over the past five years, as well as the trends in the outcomes of ComLink+ families in achieving Stability, Self-reliance, and Social mobility (3S), since its enhancement in 2023.

ComCare

  1. ComCare provides financial assistance to support lower-income households to meet their daily living expenses. It remains a key pillar of our social support system. The key trends are:
  • Decline in number of households assisted through ComCare. The number of households assisted through ComCare Short-to-Medium-Term Assistance (SMTA) has continued to decrease since from 34,858 in 2020 to 20,825 in 2024. The number of households assisted through ComCare Long-Term Assistance (LTA) also decreased over the past five years (from 4,067 in 2020 to 3,240 in 2024). The decrease reflects expansion in the economy and labour market in recent years, and increased support from other Government schemes.
  • Decrease in proportion of households returning for SMTA within 36 months. The proportion of households that returned to SMTA within 36 months of exit fell from 61% for the 2018 exit cohort to 49% for the 2021 exit cohort. A greater proportion of this cohort were first-time recipients who received SMTA due to the economic impact of COVID-19. These households were generally more self-reliant (e.g., had fewer dependants, higher educational qualifications on average) and thus less returned for SMTA compared to earlier cohorts. The return rates of later exit cohorts after the COVID-19 period will likely increase.
  • Households that returned for SMTA within 36 months tended to have primary clients with lower educational qualifications, young children, or primary clients who were medically unfit for work. Compared to households that did not return for SMTA within 36 months, a larger proportion of households that returned for SMTA had primary clients with secondary education and below (75% vs 69%), at least one 0 – 6 year old child (20% vs 13%), or primary clients who were medically unfit for work (14% vs 10%) based on the 2021 exit cohort.

ComLink+

  1. Although ComCare ensures families meet their basic living expenses in the short term, households may face complex challenges and find it difficult to sustain progress. MSF has shifted our focus from providing assistance for basic needs to empowering families to achieve their aspirations via ComLink+. This involves proactively reaching out to families to co-develop action plans, and organising support around each family’s unique needs, aspirations, and strengths.
  2. A total of 10,219 families had agreed to come onboard as ComLink+ families and work with MSF as at December 2024, up from 9,153 in December 2023. The report presents a snapshot of the situation of these families based on 21 outcomes across five domains.1 Compared to families on ComLink+ as at end-2023, families on ComLink+ as at end-2024 saw changes in the following domains:
  • Income security. 2%-point (from 26% in 2023 to 28% in 2024) more ComLink+ families had stable employment, were not on major forms of financial assistance, and had real income growth over time.
  • Preschool education. 8%-point (from 13% in 2023 to 21% in 2024) more families with all preschool children enrolled in preschool, taken their compulsory vaccinations, and attended preschool regularly. This increase can be attributed to the inclusion of attendance data for families with preschool children enrolled in non-Anchor Operator preschools, which was not available in December 2023.
  • Housing. 2%-point (from 2% in 2023 to 4% in 2024) more families that moved from rental to home ownership.
  • Family Functioning. 5%-point (from 11% in 2023 to 16% in 2024) more families had cases involving domestic violence or child protection concerns.
  1. Compared to families that achieved Stability across all domains, a larger proportion of ComLink+ families that had not achieved Stability had at least one 0 –6-year-old child (50% vs 35%), were single parents (39% vs 32%), or had at least one family member with recent incarceration history (19% vs 12%) based on ComLink+ families in 2024. ComLink+ family coaches and FSC case workers will journey with families to address their complex issues, and MSF will continue working with community partners to develop solutions to meet families’ underlying needs and support them towards achieving 3S.

A “We-First” society

  1. While the Government creates opportunities and provides additional support for lower-income families, these families often have unique needs that are not easy to address, even with nationwide programmes. The community has been crucial in lending their time, talent, and treasures to meet these families’ needs in more targeted ways, reflecting what a “We-First” society embodies.
  2. As at end-2024, corporate organisations have partnered MSF to support 509 ComLink+ programmes and activities. A total of $37 million in donations has been contributed to ComLink+ Progress Packages and in-kind assistance, such as groceries, family outings, and financial and digital literacy programmes.
  3. The full report can be found at: go.gov.sg/msflowerincometrendsreport2025.

1 In the 2024 edition of this report, we only had data available for eight outcomes. In this year’s report, we have data available for 21 outcomes. As such, this year’s data on the overall progress of ComLink+ families as at end-2023 and end-2024 is not directly comparable with the data in last year’s report on the status of families as at end-2023.