CHILD CARE SUBSIDY

CHILD CARE SUBSIDY:

(Increase): 17.

Mdm Halimah Yacob asked the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports whether the Government will consider increasing the $150 child care subsidy which was last revised in 1995 and which is no longer adequate in view of the rising cost of child care fees.

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The Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports (Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon) (for the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports): Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to thank the hon. Member, Mdm Halimah, for her concern about child care development in Singapore.

While the quantum of the child care subsidy has remained at $150 a month, the Government has introduced various initiatives in the past few years to help parents defray the cost of raising children.

The Baby Bonus scheme was introduced in 2001 for the second and third child. In 2004, the scheme was extended to the first and fourth child to make it more attractive. Currently, the scheme provides a cash gift of $3,000 for the first and second child, and $6,000 for the third and fourth child. It also provides Government matching contribution of up to $6,000 for the second child, and $12,000 for the third and fourth child, if the parents open a Baby Bonus Children Development Account and put in their contribution. Both the cash grant and the Children Development Account funds can be used to pay for various child related expenditure, including fees at childcare centres.

We have chosen to provide more support through the Baby Bonus package as it provides parents with more options in how they can use their money.

In recognition of the higher cost of infant care, in 2004, the Government had also introduced an infant care subsidy of $400 to help families which place their infants aged 2-18 months in centre-based infant care.

Sir, notwithstanding the above, we will monitor the situation closely and review existing policies, including the child care subsidy policy, where necessary

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to better assist parents in their child care arrangements.

Mdm Halimah Yacob: Sir, I thank the Minister of State for the explanation. I would like to say that the Baby Bonus Scheme is a useful scheme. Nevertheless, it is a scheme which requires a person to top up before the Government will give a matching grant. Not everyone is able to come up with the money to top up and therefore it may have limited accessibility for some Singaporeans. Raising the child care subsidy of $150, however, will benefit everyone, including the lower income groups that we want to assist. I would like to ask the MCYS to seriously consider raising this $150 subsidy, because it has been a long time since the subsidy was last raised.

Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon: Mr Speaker, Sir, I do understand the situation. Like I said just now, besides Baby Bonus, for lower income groups such as those families with a monthly income below $1,500, the Government has the Centre-Based Financial Assistance Scheme for Child Care which provides a subsidy that ranges from $140-$320, in addition to the $150 child care subsidy

I do agree with Mdm Halimah that with the Baby Bonus matching grant, not all of them can come into this scheme. But, on average, over 90% of eligible children have opened Baby Bonus Children Development Accounts. I am sure that my Ministry and also the National Population Committee chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng will actively look into child care arrangements in Singapore, including the subsidy.