SINGAPORE - Parents with babies aged from two months to 18 months will have another infant care option from the second half of 2024, when a new scheme to develop affordable and reliable services to look after babies at a childminder’s house or community space is launched.

Announcing the pilot childminding scheme in Parliament on March 6, Minister of State for Social and Family Development Sun Xueling said the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) will fund appointed operators to keep fees affordable.

The aim is to keep childminding fees similar to what a median-income family pays, after subsidies, for infant care at centres run by anchor operators, she said. This sum works out to be around $700 a month.

She said families will be able to use the Child Development Account (CDA) to further defray the cost for the service, adding that more details will be released later in 2024.

The CDA is a special savings account for children that can be used to pay pre-school and healthcare fees, while anchor operators receive government grants that help offset costs, such as staff salaries, in return for meeting fee caps and quality criteria.

The pilot scheme, which will run for three years, aims to serve 500 infants in the first year. The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) hopes to increase the number to about 700 babies subsequently.

Under the pilot, ECDA will appoint childminding operators, who will hire the childminders.

Each childminder will be allowed to look after up to three infants at a time at the childminder’s house or at a community space, such as a community centre. Parents also have more flexibility to discuss their care preferences and requirements with the childminder, she added.

Ms Sun said childminders, or nannies as some call them, are not a new concept, and were more common in the 1970s and 1980s. Some of these nannies care for the babies in their own homes, while others do so at the child’s home.

She added: “They are less common today as parents may be unsure of where to look for trusted childminders, or they may find childminding relatively more expensive as compared to other caregiving options, such as infant care centres.”

However, European countries such as Britain, France and Denmark have given parents financial support for childminding services, such as subsidies, among their efforts to help parents meet their infant care needs, she said.

So MSF is launching the pilot to offer parents another option for infant care, and it will work with appointed operators to expand infant childminding services here, she said.

She said: “Parents can then have greater flexibility to choose what is best in terms of
their caregiving needs and preferences. For example, parents who may prefer a more structured setting during working hours may opt for infant care centres for their infants. Those who prefer more flexible hours or more individualised care in a home setting may for opt for infant childminding.”

As safety is a key consideration for parents when it comes to care arrangements, ECDA will conduct background checks on operators and require them to meet certain service requirements.

These include putting in place guidelines on practices to keep the child safe, ensuring that the childminder is trained in areas such as basic infant care and first aid, and establishing processes for incident management.

ECDA will conduct background checks on the childminders, such as for criminal records and if they have committed child-related offences, an MSF spokesman told The Straits Times.

Ms Sun added that ECDA will work with operators to co-develop industry standards.

In her speech, she also said that about one in five infants is currently enrolled in an infant care centre. MSF also plans to increase centre-based infant care places by about 70 per cent, or 9,000 more places, by 2030 so that more parents can use this option.

Currently, childminding services cost around $1,200 to $2,800 a month, and this varies according to the type of childminding arrangement, the MSF spokesman told ST. Such services are currently also unregulated.

Kidibliss, which offers childminding services, expects demand for its services to rise when parents are allowed to use the CDA to defray childminding expenses, said its business manager Jess Soh.

The monthly rates for full-day care at Kidibliss start at $1,180 currently. Nannies that it engages each cares for up to three children at the nanny’s house at a time.

Childminding operators say one common reason why parents use their services is that they cannot secure spots at infant care centres.

Ms Becky Eng, director of Nanny Pro, said: “Some parents tell us that there are long queues at the infant care centres. And they may also worry that their baby will fall sick more easily at an infant care centre.”

Other parents are unable or unwilling to get a domestic helper to care for their baby for a variety of reasons, the operators added.

Review of family services

In the debate on MSF’s budget, Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli said the ministry will start a review of the family services landscape in 2024.

Currently, there are over 10 different MSF-funded programmes run by about 30 social service agencies (SSAs) supporting families with different needs. These range from those facing domestic violence, to at-risk youth, to those facing problems in their marriage or other family relationships. 

Hence, some individuals or families with complex multiple needs are served by different SSAs. While the different SSAs try to coordinate with one another, the family may find it tedious to work with multiple agencies, he said.

Another concern is that the underlying issues may not always be addressed, as each agency is focused on tackling the issue at hand, he added.

Mr Masagos said: “Our vision is for families in need to receive support through a single primary touchpoint for family services, who can address the needs of different family members in a holistic and more coordinated manner, to achieve better outcomes for the entire family.”

A review committee on the family services landscape, which will be chaired by MSF’s Senior Parliamentary Secretary Eric Chua and comprise representatives from sector partners, will be set up.

Mr Masagos said: “In line with the spirit of Forward SG, we will engage and co-create the future landscape with the sector.

Social service salaries

In response to Nominated MP Keith Chua’s question on MSF’s plans to recruit and retain social service professionals, Mr Masagos said the sector needs 2,000 more professionals over the next five years.

He said that in 2023, MSF reviewed the salary guidelines for the social service sector to ensure that salaries are competitive with comparable roles in competing markets.

MSF and the National Council of Social Service have also adjusted the sums given for MSF-funded programmes so that staff can be paid within the salary guidelines.

Currently, around 80 per cent of employees in the sector are paid within the salary guidelines.

Mr Masagos said: “We expect our funded providers to adhere to and pay employees within the guidelines over the next three years. We will work closely with SSAs that require additional support, including providing targeted consultancy support.”