The People's Action Party (PAP) continues to be viewed as the most credible political party, but its credibility among voters in all age groups slipped in this year's general election compared with 2015.
Conversely, the Workers' Party (WP) gained ground across the board, with bigger increases among seniors aged 65 and older, and those aged 30 to 34.
A post-election survey of voters by the Institute of Policy Studies also found that overall, the credibility ratings of all six political parties ranked in the survey mirrored the number of votes they pulled in at the July 10 election.
After PAP, WP was found to be most credible, followed, in declining order, by the Progress Singapore Party (PSP), Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), National Solidarity Party (NSP) and Peoples Voice.
PAP won 83 of the 93 seats and garnered 61.24 per cent of the popular vote, down from 69.9 per cent five years ago.
The survey, whose results were discussed at an online post-GE forum yesterday, had polled 4,027 voters.
A similar survey was also conducted after the 2006, 2011 and 2015 general elections.
In the latest survey, PAP's credibility fell most among those aged 40 to 49. The proportion in this group who agreed or strongly agreed that the PAP is credible fell 13 percentage points from five years ago.
In the 25 to 34 age bracket, a bigger proportion saw WP as credible compared with that for PAP. This was also true for Malay voters.
For those aged 25 to 29, about 86 per cent said WP was credible, while the corresponding figure for PAP was around 81 per cent.
Similarly, for voters in the 30 to 34 age group, almost 88 per cent said WP was credible, against about 85 per cent for PAP.
Among all four ethnic categories (Chinese, Indian, Malay, Others), Malay respondents were the least likely to find PAP credible, but most likely to find WP credible.
About 82 per cent of Malays found PAP credible, compared with 87 per cent for WP.
PAP's credibility rating also dived among voters living in one-to three-room Housing Board flats and those whose monthly household income is below $5,000.
On the other hand, WP's credibility rose on both ends of the socioeconomic spectrum: A larger segment of voters in one-to three-room HDB flats, those with non-tertiary post-secondary qualifications, as well as PMETs (professionals, managers, executives and technicians), rated it credible.
"These findings reinforce the sense that the issue of livelihoods, especially for the low-to middle-income households, influenced support for the PAP and WP," said the research team.
