The politics of social security in Singapore.

The paper examines income maintenance and health policies in Singapore. It finds that, contrary to widely-held perceptions, the state is heavily involved in these areas. There exist generous schemes for government employees and a miserly programme for the hard-core poor. Private sector workers are looked after by programmes that they themselves and their employers pay for. The paper explains the patterns with reference to the nature of political competition in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]