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Singapore Among Top 5 With Highest Savings for Education

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80% of Singaporean households save regularly for children’s education.

80% of Singaporean households save money regularly for their children’s education, according to MasterCard’s survey on Consumer Purchasing Priorities – Education. This is higher than the Asia-Pacific regional average of 71%. Thai households top the region with 95% claiming they save regularly for their children’s education, followed by Taiwan (82%), India (81%) and Singapore (80%). In contrast, only about one-third of households in Australia (35%) and New Zealand (34%) set aside money regularly for the same purpose.

The research is based on a survey conducted in the fourth quarter of 2013 with 7932 respondents aged 18 – 64 in 16 Asia/Pacific countries who were asked questions about their education spending priorities. The survey findings are part of MasterCard’s suite of research into Consumer Purchasing Priorities in the Asia/Pacific region. The survey and its accompanying reports do not represent MasterCard’s financial performance.

Key findings

  • 80% of Singaporean households save an average of 14% of their monthly household income for their children’s education, higher than the regional average (13%). Across the region, Thai households are the biggest savers, setting aside 21% of their monthly household income, whereas New Zealand households save just 6%.
  • Academic learning and excellence continues to be a key focus for most parents in Singapore – 40% of parents send their children for tuition in academic subjects. Singapore remains ahead of Hong Kong (36%) in this aspect, however trails behind India (55%) and Malaysia (47%).
  • Much like their regional counterparts, close to two-thirds of households in Singapore spend money on non-academic extracurricular classes for their children – mostly in sports (26%) or musical pursuits (20%). Sports is also the top non-academic extracurricular activity for children in New Zealand (41%) and Malaysia (41%).
  • Majority of Singaporean parents (60%), like the rest of Asia/Pacific (63%), intend to send their children to a local university. The two exceptions were parents in South Korea (56%) and China (55%), where more than half intend to send their children to a university abroad.
  • Further education remains of interest to Singaporeans, with 38% intending to take up an educational course in the next year. Other regional counterparts with a strong interest include Thailand (53%), Malaysia (42%), South Korea (39%) and China (38%). Indonesia (9%), Vietnam (10%), India (13%) and Japan (14%) had the smallest number of consumers who intended to do so.

“Education has long been recognised as key to providing opportunities for upward mobility. Parents in the region clearly recognise this value and continue to invest more money in securing the best possible education for their children,” says Georgette Tan, group head, Communications, Asia/Pacific, Middle East & Africa, MasterCard.

  

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