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Wide range of support available for bigger families

Foreign manpower

We refer to Ms Tan Chu Quan’s letter “Let bigger families employ more maids” (March 7).

The Government recognises the challenges of households with childcare needs.

The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) is working to increase the number of government-supported, full-day pre-school places to expand access to affordable and quality pre-schools.

Households with young children can consider services such as pre-schools offering full-day infant care and childcare, or ECDA’s childminding pilot for infants, to supplement their caregiving needs.

Households can also hire migrant domestic workers (MDWs) to care for their young children. To avoid over-reliance on foreign manpower, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) regulates the number of MDWs that a household can hire. 

In assessing applications to hire MDWs, MOM considers the household’s caregiving needs and its ability to provide for the upkeep of the MDWs including healthcare, food and acceptable accommodation. Households can hire up to two MDWs while applications for subsequent MDWs will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. 

To further support households, MOM grants levy concessions to households with caregiving needs. Such households may qualify for levy concession at $60 per month per MDW, for up to two MDWs, instead of paying $300 in monthly levy for the first MDW and $450 for the second MDW. A similar concession applies for confinement nannies. 

We thank Ms Tan for her suggestions. 

Doris Kuek
Director, Foreign Manpower Management Policy
Workplace Policy and Strategy Division
Ministry of Manpower

[Letter] ST: Let bigger families employ more maids (7 Mar 2025)

I refer to the article “Budget 2025: Families with three or more young children to receive more financial support” (Feb 18).

As first-time working parents, my husband and I could not cope without a confinement nanny and foreign domestic worker (FDW).

I am keen to have four children, but am concerned about the cap of two FDWs per household. If one is sick or on vacation, the other will be unable to cope. Hence, my husband and I plan to stop at two.

Removing levies for confinement nannies and foreign domestic workers hired a few months before delivery will help too.

Tan Chu Quan