Chinese Singaporean attitudes towards poverty and inequality: A comparative analysis

Abstract

Based on a survey of 191 Chinese respondents, this article discusses the attitudes of Singaporean Chinese towards poverty, inequality and government intervention. Using the Z-test for two proportions and cluster analysis, findings were compared with similar studies in the USA and the UK. Chinese Singaporeans were found to be very aware of the growing inequality, but they adopted a narrower definition of poverty than British respondents. This might be the reason why they were more sympathetic towards the poor and supportive of more government anti-poverty efforts than were American respondents. From the cluster analysis, the Singaporean sample produced a third group who were 'satisfied but concerned', on top of the two polar groups, 'sceptics' and 'liberals', present in the British study. A majority of respondents also supported the view that more should be done to help the poor and were willing to pay more taxes for that purpose. © 2011 The Author(s). International Journal of Social Welfare © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare.