LOWERING OF FOREIGN MAID LEVY

Dr Wong Kwei Cheong asked the Minister for Labour whether his Ministry will consider lowering the foreign maid levy from the current $330, especially for families where mothers work, as lowering of the levy will make it more attractive for them to join the workforce to lessen the burden of the household.

The Minister for Labour (Dr Lee Boon Yang): Mr Speaker, Sir, the purpose of the domestic worker levy is to dampen the demand for foreign domestic workers. The Government needs to ensure that the number of foreign domestic workers remains manageable as there are various social and political costs in having a large pool of foreign workers here. With rising income and affluence, more and more Singaporeans are finding it affordable to employ foreign domestic workers as evidenced by the rapid rise in the number of such workers over the years. Even with the levy, there are currently more than 90,000 foreign domestic workers in Singapore. Lowering the levy would send a wrong signal and lead to a surge in demand for foreign domestic workers. This would undermine the Government's efforts to manage the foreign worker population here.

I would like to inform the Member that the Government encourages married women to work by granting them a tax relief on the domestic worker levy. They can claim a tax relief of twice the amount of levy paid for one foreign domestic worker employed by the married woman or her husband in the preceding year. The tax relief is deductible against the earned income of the married woman. In this way, married women are encouraged to continue working by reducing their cost of employing foreign domestic workers.

Furthermore, the Government provides working mothers with child care subsidy of up to $150 per month for each child placed in a child care centre. Most families also rely on grandparents or other relatives to help out with child care. Hence, employing a foreign domestic worker is not the only answer to the working woman's need to balance career with household burden.

Dr Wong Kwei Cheong (Kampong Glam GRC): Sir, can the Minister commit to this House that the current levy of $330 will not be further increased?

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Mr Speaker, Sir, in fact, I have told this House that the domestic worker levy has got to be reviewed from time to time in accordance with the wage increase in Singapore. We have got to keep a certain parity. As wages and incomes in Singapore go up, more and more people will find it affordable to have a foreign domestic worker unless the levy is at the same time adjusted to reflect the rising affluence.