Proposal for Childcare Subsidies To Be Raised to Match Infant Care Subsidy Levels

122 Ms Diana Pang Li Yen asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) whether the Ministry has assessed the impact on young families when the basic subsidy drops from $600 a month for infant care to $300 a month for childcare once a child turns 18 months old; and (b) whether childcare subsidies will be raised to match infant care subsidy levels, or otherwise enhanced, so support remains strong throughout early childhood.

Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: Infant care requires higher staff-to-child ratios and more specialised facilities. This results in higher operation costs and therefore higher infant care fees than childcare. In 2025, the median infant care fee was $1,235, around double that of childcare at $680. Hence, the Government provides higher subsidies to infant care to keep it affordable for families.

With these subsidies, a median-income working family with a child enrolled in an anchor operator preschool in 2025 would spend around 3.1% of their income on full-day childcare compared to 5.8% of their income on full-day infant care. Since the start of 2026, full-day childcare fees have been further reduced by $30 to a maximum of $610 at anchor operator preschools and $650 at partner operator preschools. The affordability of both childcare and infant care will also be further enhanced from 1 January 2027, when the income ceiling for preschool subsidies will increase from $12,000 to $15,000 and income thresholds for all subsidy tiers will be increased.