[h=1]S'POREANS HAVE TO PAY MORE THAN $2,000 IN CHILDCARE FEES FOR 2 CHILDREN BECAUSE OF RENT HIKES[/h]
<!-- /.block --> <style>.node-article .field-name-link-line-above-tags{float: right;}.node-article .field-name-ad-box-in-article {float: left;margin: 15px 15px 10px 0;}.node-article .field-tags{clear: both;}</style> Post date:
23 Dec 2014 - 9:43pm
<ins id="aswift_0_expand" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: currentColor; width: 336px; height: 280px; display: inline-table; visibility: visible; position: relative; background-color: transparent; border-image: none;"><ins id="aswift_0_anchor" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: currentColor; width: 336px; height: 280px; display: block; visibility: visible; position: relative; background-color: transparent; border-image: none;"><iframe name="aswift_0" width="336" height="280" id="aswift_0" frameBorder="0" marginWidth="0" marginHeight="0" scrolling="no" vspace="0" hspace="0" allowfullscreen="true" style="left: 0px; top: 0px; position: absolute;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></ins></ins>
[photo credit for childcare centre: AFP]
More than $2,000 for childcare fees for two children - this caused a man's eyes to nearly pop out when he saw this.
Shin Min recently reported of a Mr Wong, 40, who was flabbergasted by the increase in childcare fees by 20 percent next year.
Mr Wong has three children, aged 8, 3 and 2. Two of the younger children require full-day childcare.
Mr Wong currently enrolls his two children at the KiddiWinkie childcare centre, at $840 per month each, or a total of $1,680.
However, he was only recently informed that childcare fees would be increased by 20 percent next year.
From January 2015, he would have to pay a total of $2,016.
“It’s unbearable!” an exasperated Mr Wong exclaimed.
Mr Wong works in the financial industry and already the high costs are wearing him out.
He has considered switching to other childcare centres. However, there were not that many childcare centres near his home and the centres that he had approached also said that they would be raising their fees.
As to why KiddiWinkie decided to raise their fees, its co-chief executive Matthias Koh said that it is because there was a 100 percent spike in its rental. He also said that fees had not been adjusted for more than two years, since March 2012.
Mr Koh added that the $1,008 charged for existing students is already more favourable than the $1,500 per month that the centre would charge new children.
In response, Esa Masood Director, Policy and Corporate Development at the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA), seemed nonchalant.
"Childcare centres do raise fees from time to time.
"This helps them keep pace with operating costs and recruit and retain teachers to deliver quality programmes."
But Mr Esa did not explain how fee increases are also necessary because the government keeps increasing the rents of these centres.
ECDA is a government agency jointly overseen by the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF).
<ins id="aswift_1_expand" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: currentColor; width: 336px; height: 280px; display: inline-table; visibility: visible; position: relative; background-color: transparent; border-image: none;"><ins id="aswift_1_anchor" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: currentColor; width: 336px; height: 280px; display: block; visibility: visible; position: relative; background-color: transparent; border-image: none;"><iframe name="aswift_1" width="336" height="280" id="aswift_1" frameBorder="0" marginWidth="0" marginHeight="0" scrolling="no" vspace="0" hspace="0" allowfullscreen="true" style="left: 0px; top: 0px; position: absolute;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></ins></ins>
"We provide centres with guidelines to ensure that fee revisions are carried out in a transparent manner," Mr Esa added.
Indeed, Mr Koh said that parents were informed of the increase in October 2014, in letters that were sent out.
But a warning three months in advance and fees that have become too exorbitant for many families no longer seem reasonable.
In fact, 30 percent of Singaporeans currently earn less than $2,000 which means that childcare education can be out of reach for the large majority of families in Singapore.
Already, the average full-day childcare fees as of October this year is $952. With the increases coming along, average fees would most likely exceed $1,000 per month for just one child.
This could mean that Singaporeans might be paying the most expensive childcare fees in the world. In addition to paying possibly the most expensive university fees in the world, this means that Singapore could be the most expensive place to bring up a child.
Indeed, Singapore has been ranked by The Economist as the most expensive place to live in the world.
It is no wonder that Singapore's fertility rate is one of the very lowest in the world.
In comparison, in Norway, where the national wealth per capita is similar to Singapore, its government would spend more to protect its citizens and young - parents only need to pay a cap of $450 every month for childcare. At the same time, the lowest wage that a Norwegian earns is $5,000, in comparison to the $1,000 that the government is willing to pay to cleaners here.
All in, this puts the majority of low and middle-income families in a difficult position, where they would either not be able to send their children to childcare or they would have to wipe out their savings or not be able to save for the first many years of their children's lives.
<!-- /.block --> <style>.node-article .field-name-link-line-above-tags{float: right;}.node-article .field-name-ad-box-in-article {float: left;margin: 15px 15px 10px 0;}.node-article .field-tags{clear: both;}</style> Post date:
23 Dec 2014 - 9:43pm
<ins id="aswift_0_expand" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: currentColor; width: 336px; height: 280px; display: inline-table; visibility: visible; position: relative; background-color: transparent; border-image: none;"><ins id="aswift_0_anchor" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: currentColor; width: 336px; height: 280px; display: block; visibility: visible; position: relative; background-color: transparent; border-image: none;"><iframe name="aswift_0" width="336" height="280" id="aswift_0" frameBorder="0" marginWidth="0" marginHeight="0" scrolling="no" vspace="0" hspace="0" allowfullscreen="true" style="left: 0px; top: 0px; position: absolute;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></ins></ins>
[photo credit for childcare centre: AFP]
More than $2,000 for childcare fees for two children - this caused a man's eyes to nearly pop out when he saw this.
Shin Min recently reported of a Mr Wong, 40, who was flabbergasted by the increase in childcare fees by 20 percent next year.
Mr Wong has three children, aged 8, 3 and 2. Two of the younger children require full-day childcare.
Mr Wong currently enrolls his two children at the KiddiWinkie childcare centre, at $840 per month each, or a total of $1,680.
However, he was only recently informed that childcare fees would be increased by 20 percent next year.
From January 2015, he would have to pay a total of $2,016.
“It’s unbearable!” an exasperated Mr Wong exclaimed.
Mr Wong works in the financial industry and already the high costs are wearing him out.
He has considered switching to other childcare centres. However, there were not that many childcare centres near his home and the centres that he had approached also said that they would be raising their fees.
As to why KiddiWinkie decided to raise their fees, its co-chief executive Matthias Koh said that it is because there was a 100 percent spike in its rental. He also said that fees had not been adjusted for more than two years, since March 2012.
Mr Koh added that the $1,008 charged for existing students is already more favourable than the $1,500 per month that the centre would charge new children.
In response, Esa Masood Director, Policy and Corporate Development at the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA), seemed nonchalant.
"Childcare centres do raise fees from time to time.
"This helps them keep pace with operating costs and recruit and retain teachers to deliver quality programmes."
But Mr Esa did not explain how fee increases are also necessary because the government keeps increasing the rents of these centres.
ECDA is a government agency jointly overseen by the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF).
<ins id="aswift_1_expand" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: currentColor; width: 336px; height: 280px; display: inline-table; visibility: visible; position: relative; background-color: transparent; border-image: none;"><ins id="aswift_1_anchor" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: currentColor; width: 336px; height: 280px; display: block; visibility: visible; position: relative; background-color: transparent; border-image: none;"><iframe name="aswift_1" width="336" height="280" id="aswift_1" frameBorder="0" marginWidth="0" marginHeight="0" scrolling="no" vspace="0" hspace="0" allowfullscreen="true" style="left: 0px; top: 0px; position: absolute;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></ins></ins>
"We provide centres with guidelines to ensure that fee revisions are carried out in a transparent manner," Mr Esa added.
Indeed, Mr Koh said that parents were informed of the increase in October 2014, in letters that were sent out.
But a warning three months in advance and fees that have become too exorbitant for many families no longer seem reasonable.
In fact, 30 percent of Singaporeans currently earn less than $2,000 which means that childcare education can be out of reach for the large majority of families in Singapore.
Already, the average full-day childcare fees as of October this year is $952. With the increases coming along, average fees would most likely exceed $1,000 per month for just one child.
This could mean that Singaporeans might be paying the most expensive childcare fees in the world. In addition to paying possibly the most expensive university fees in the world, this means that Singapore could be the most expensive place to bring up a child.
Indeed, Singapore has been ranked by The Economist as the most expensive place to live in the world.
It is no wonder that Singapore's fertility rate is one of the very lowest in the world.
In comparison, in Norway, where the national wealth per capita is similar to Singapore, its government would spend more to protect its citizens and young - parents only need to pay a cap of $450 every month for childcare. At the same time, the lowest wage that a Norwegian earns is $5,000, in comparison to the $1,000 that the government is willing to pay to cleaners here.
All in, this puts the majority of low and middle-income families in a difficult position, where they would either not be able to send their children to childcare or they would have to wipe out their savings or not be able to save for the first many years of their children's lives.
