The Big Read in short: Plugging the gaps in babysitting services
SINGAPORE — When her six-month old baby contracted hand, foot and mouth disease and was given a one-week medical certificate, Ms Joanne Chong turned to Facebook to engage a nanny or babysitter.

Parents and experts said more can be done to help parents feel secure in choosing childminding services, and to help childminders professionalise their services.
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Each week, TODAY’s long-running Big Read series delves into the trends and issues that matter. This week, we look at the range of childminding services for infants in Singapore, and parents and experts' responses to an upcoming launch of a childminding pilot for infants aged two to 18 months’ old. This is a shortened version of the full feature, which can be found here.
- The Ministry of Social and Family Development announced a three-year childminding pilot, which will be introduced for infants aged two to 18 months old
- While childminders – or nannies – are not new, alternatives such as infant care, hiring a live-in domestic helper or keeping care within the family have been common caregiving arrangements for parents here
- But amid difficulties in securing slots at infant care centres, experts and industry operators say there is a growing demand for childminding services
- Some parents expressed concern about the safety and high costs of childminding options, which are currently unregulated
- Parents and experts said more can be done to help parents feel secure in choosing childminding services, and to help childminders professionalise their services
SINGAPORE — When her six-month old baby contracted hand, foot and mouth disease and was given a one-week medical certificate, Ms Joanne Chong turned to Facebook to engage a nanny or babysitter.
Even though she was prepared to pay their quoted rates ranging from S$23 to S$40 per hour, many of the babysitters she contacted rejected her after learning her child was sick.
“When one babysitter replied that she was free the next few days, we quickly confirmed her,” said the 32-year-old, who works in human resources.
If finding an ad hoc babysitter is tough, finding a long-term infant care service can be just as difficult, parents told TODAY.
Many infant care centres are short on vacancies, and parents often find themselves on waitlists. Others say that when they do find centres that seem ideal, the fees can be exorbitant.
A new pilot to be launched by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) aims to help by offering childminding services at affordable rates for infants aged two months to 18 months.
This new service will be introduced in the second half of this year and will start off as a three-year-pilot, with fees similar to what median income families pay for infant care at anchor operators — around S$700 a month.
Under this pilot, the service will only be available on weekdays during working hours.
In response to TODAY's queries, an MSF spokesperson said that catering to parents outside typical working hours would involve "additional challenges" such as ensuring that there are childminders available to provide services for extended hours, at night and on weekends.
“After the pilot stabilises, MSF will assess demand and look into the feasibility of catering to parents with varying care needs," the spokesperson said.
WHY IT MATTERS
While nannies were common in Singapore in the 1970s and 1980s, they have become much less so today as parents are relying more on their own family members, domestic helpers or infant and childcare centres, which are regulated and offer subsidised fees.
Existing childminding services are not subsidised, which means that it is costly to hire childminders on a regular basis.
According to MSF, monthly fees for childminding services range from around S$1,200 to S$2,800, while professional childminding operators told TODAY it can cost up to S$3,500 a month.
Furthermore, the childminding industry in Singapore is unregulated, which makes parents more wary.
Parents, childcare professionals and experts noted that there is a huge demand for more childcare options that are safe, regulated and offered at affordable rates, so MSF's pilot is a welcome move.

THE BIG PICTURE
Parents may need more reassurances that the childminding service being offered under this pilot is good enough — many whom TODAY spoke to had questions about safety standards.
MSF has said that it will work with childminding operators to establish industry standards for the sector. In the meantime, parents have some suggestions of rules and checks that they would like to see.
Ms Deborah Dayani Nanayakara, a 39-year-old mother of two eight-month-old twin boys and a two-year-old daughter, pointed to the high-profile cases of child abuse that were recently uncovered at a few preschools here.
For her, the cases reflect the importance of stringent background checks on and regular check-ins with childcare workers.
One solution suggested by both parents and nannies themselves: Closed-circuit television in childminding locations.
These, they say, would provide parents with peace of mind and offer nannies some protection to avoid miscommunication in the case of any incident.
They had a plethora of other suggestions, including mandatory child-proofing of the childminders' homes and psychological evaluations of childminders.
Other parents had concerns about the fact that MSF plans to allow childminders under the pilot to care for up to three infants at one time.
Experts, too, noted that caring for even one infant is a tough job that requires total dedication, so it may not be feasible for one childminder to care for more than one baby at a time.
Meanwhile, one expert pointed out that the pilot, which is offering the service only on weekdays and during working hours, will not help parents who need help outside of these periods, such as those who do shift work.

THE BOTTOMLINE
While the introduction of MSF's pilot will certainly offer parents an added caregiving option, it cannot plug all the existing gaps in the childcare landscape.
It also remains to be seen whether the pilot will be fully embraced by parents, as some questions remain.
Aside from addressing parents' safety concerns, there is also the question of whether there will be enough supply of childminders to meet demand.
Ms Priscilla Tay, the programme development and incubator manager at Daughters of Tomorrow, noted that there may be potential childminders who might face a barrier to entry because they lack the financial resources to make their homes suitable enough for childminding services.
There should be help given to such potential nannies, she said.
Beyond the operational details of the childminding service itself, nannies and childminding operators said they hope MSF will see this pilot as a first step towards regulating and professionalising the whole industry.
For example, authorities should take steps to ensure that nannies are well-compensated and well-equipped to provide quality care, even in their own homes.
Ms Becky Eng, founder of childminding service operator NannyPro, noted that there is a stereotype of nannies being "aunties" who are uneducated and have no other job options.
This is a mindset that she has been working to change, she said.
“It’s a dignified profession. I onboard all our nannies with our suite of training, not just the basic care of the baby where you just change them and feed them. Parents’ expectations have evolved, and they are looking for high-value nannies."