Under a three-year program, NCSS will fund nine additional social service agencies to provide support alongside WE CARE Community Services, expanding access to 10 agencies across Singapore.

The initiative, known as the Addiction Support Programme for Inclusion, Recovery and Empowerment, or ASPIRE, is aimed at providing earlier intervention for people struggling with behavioral addictions, including excessive gaming, gambling and pornography use.

WE CARE, which has about two decades of experience managing addictions, will mentor the nine other agencies and handle more complex cases. At least four counselors at each agency will be trained to provide early intervention and direct people to appropriate support.

Social service agencies reported more than 780 new behavioral addiction cases in 2024, up from over 520 in 2020, with some clients as young as 12, CNA reported.

Cases involving pornography and gambling have risen particularly sharply.

WE CARE handled close to 200 cases of problematic pornography use in 2025, an 80% increase from 2020, The Straits Times reported. Most of those seeking help were men aged 18 to 35, while fewer than 10% were women.

The organization also saw almost 90 people seeking help for gambling addiction in 2025, more than double the number in 2020. Those affected by online gambling, including football betting and casino games, were predominantly men aged 18 to 45.

Social workers attributed the increase partly to the easy accessibility and anonymity of online pornography, gaming and gambling platforms, as well as growing willingness among people to seek help.

Gaming and pornography problems are also affecting children and teenagers. Social workers interviewed by The Straits Times said people struggling with these addictions could be as young as 10, although many were teenagers or in their 20s.

NCSS defines behavioral addiction as a strong urge to repeatedly engage in an activity despite negative consequences to a person’s daily life, relationships or finances. It can involve excessive device use, gambling, gaming, shopping, sex and pornography consumption. It said emerging technologies have made behavioral addictions increasingly complex and identified support for such problems as an emerging unmet need.

NCSS chief executive Lim Shung Yar said in a press release on Thursday: “Behavioural addictions often go unseen until they affect relationships, education, work or well-being. NCSS is committed to strengthening the sector’s response by bringing expertise closer to communities and better equipping SSAs to help people seek support earlier.”

Singapore was ranked the world’s second-richest country in 2025 by GDP per capita, behind Switzerland, according to The Economist.