Night-time Childcare Centres for Low-income Parents who Work Night Shifts
Ministry of Social and Family DevelopmentSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns plans to expand night-time childcare services for low-income parents working night shifts, as raised by Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang. Minister for Social and Family Development Desmond Lee stated that while standard childcare hours end at 7.00 pm, around 50 centres currently provide extended services based on demand. The Ministry for Social and Family Development will assess the need for night-time care particularly in areas with low-income families who may lack alternative caregiving arrangements. Minister for Social and Family Development Desmond Lee highlighted that the ComLink pilot in rental housing areas will also identify specific care-giving requirements for residents. Furthermore, the government is studying existing night-care pilot programmes operated by Voluntary Welfare Organisations to further evaluate the necessity of expanding such support.
Transcript
2 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Social and Family Development whether the Ministry has plans to provide or to encourage the provision of night-time childcare beyond the three night-care centers run by the Morning Star charity, for low-income parents who have to work night shifts.
The Minister for Social and Family Development (Mr Desmond Lee): Mr Speaker, to cater to the needs of working parents, childcare centres are required to operate full-day services from 7.00 am to 7.00 pm on weekdays, and from 7.00 am to 2.00 pm on Saturdays. Childcare centres have the discretion to extend their services beyond standard operating hours, taking into consideration demand and resources. Currently, around 50 childcare centres operate beyond 7.00 pm on weekdays.
The current arrangement meets the needs of most parents. But for those working shifts or on weekends, many of them arrange for other care-givers such as grandparents and relatives to help out. However, some families may face difficulties in making alternate care-giving arrangements. We will assess the need and demand for night-time childcare and the possibility of offering such programmes, particularly in areas where low-income families reside.
The Member may also have heard us describe in the course of the announcing the roll-out of ComLink in the four areas where rental flats are, as a pilot. That will also look into programming that meets the needs of the residents in rental housing, who are mostly low-income households. These include certain kinds of care-giving that they may require. So, I think we look at requirements based on locality as well.
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang (Nee Soon): I thank the Minister for the reply. So, is it a confirmation that we are looking into providing more night-time childcare services in certain areas? Because I see that on the ground, that some of the parents who have to work the night shift, they leave their children at home, in fear of their safety and then, they go and work, especially for a lot of the single parents. So, I am just wondering whether we can help provide the night-time childcare in cases like these.
Mr Desmond Lee: There are Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs) that are running programmes as pilots to provide night care-giving support. We will look at the experience and study this further.