First community-based subsidised nanny service opens in Tampines, two babies enrolled

The first significantly subsidised nanny service in a community space opened its doors on March 3, and now has two babies enrolled.

EduNanny by Butler, which occupies a 500 sq ft room at Tampines East Community Club (CC), is part of a pilot government project to give parents more options for infant care.

A spokesperson for the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) said it aims to get a second such set-up at Nee Soon East CC ready in the first half of 2025.

It is also assessing other community spaces to offer such services, particularly in locations where demand for infant care is higher.

Having childminding services in such spaces offers parents this option in convenient locations, and allows childminders to offer their services even if their homes are not suitable, the ECDA spokesperson said.

On Dec 1, 2024, ECDA launched a childminding pilot for infants aged two to 18 months.

Under the scheme, nannies either look after the babies in the nannies' homes, or at a communal space such as a CC.

Childminding services are provided in five- or 10-hour blocks between 7am and 7pm from Mondays to Fridays, excluding public holidays.

Services offered during these time periods are subsidised, costing $16.50 for a five-hour block. Parents pay $719.40 a month if they use the service full time, or 10 hours a day for five days a week for four weeks, including goods and services tax.

Under the pilot, three operators have been appointed and are responsible for hiring the nannies, or childminders, as ECDA calls them. They are EduNanny by Butler, Kidibliss and NannyPro Care.

EduNanny chief executive Poon Da Qian said it has six childminders who are currently working, with over 30 waiting for ECDA's screening clearance to start work.

On ECDA's website, the agency says it conducts background checks on the nannies, including if they have any criminal history.

If the baby is cared for in the nanny's home, these background checks are also done on the nanny's family members and others who visit the house regularly.

Before they are deployed, the childminders also have to undergo mandatory training on infant care, among other things.

EduNanny's childminders include retirees, as well as mothers in their 20s and 30s who want to care for their own children and earn an income at the same time by caring for other babies.

At EduNanny, parents have access to a live CCTV feed for their baby to put their minds at ease. This is especially important given the news of abuse committed by some childcare teachers in the past, Mr Poon said.

He added: "Parents want the live CCTV feed. They want more transparency in how operators run their operations."

The ECDA spokesperson said childminding services offer more personalised care and greater flexibility for parents, compared with infant care services offered at childcare centres.

For example, parents can decide to use the childminding service for half a day, or on selected days, depending on their needs.

Parents can also use the Child Development Account (CDA), a special savings account for children that can be used to pay pre-school and other fees, to further defray the cost of the service.

The ECDA spokesperson said: "The pilot aims to grow childminding services to be an affordable, safe and reliable infant caregiving option for parents."

When announcing the pilot in 2024, Minister of State for Social and Family Development Sun Xueling said childminding fees would be similar to what a median-income family pays, after subsidies, for infant care at childcare centres run by anchor operators.

Anchor operators receive government grants that help offset costs, such as staff salaries, in return for meeting fee caps and quality criteria.

Meanwhile, private childminding services cost around $1,200 to $2,800 a month, and this varies according to the type of arrangement, the Ministry of Social and Family Development has previously said.

The pilot childminding scheme, which will run for three years, aims to serve 500 infants in the first year.

According to ECDA's guidelines, each childminder is allowed to care for up to three infants at any one time under the childminding pilot. This is compared with one staff member for up to five babies under the infant care programmes run by childcare centres.

EduNanny is allowed to care for up to nine babies at its Tampines East CC set-up, but it plans for a maximum of six so that there is more space for each child, Mr Poon said.

He said: "We realise the first choice (for parents) is still centre-based care. They feel that there are more childminders at the centre, so it is safer."

The firm will also start placing babies in nannies' homes from next week, for parents who choose that option. It has about 200 parents on the wait list now.

Ms Hartini Sumari, a 49-year-old mother of three teenagers, switched from housekeeping to working as a nanny at the EduNanny set-up at Tampines East CC as she loves children.

The Singapore permanent resident, who has secondary school education, said: "When the baby smiles at me or recognises me, it makes me happy.

"I also feel happy to see them grow."

Over at Kidibliss, which is another operator under the pilot project, there are six babies currently being cared for by nannies at the nannies' homes, said its business manager Jess Soh.

Kidibliss has a wait list of 60 to 70 parents now. It has about 20 nannies who have been screened by ECDA so far, and hopes to increase that number to 100, Ms Soh said.

Research coordinator Azyan Syazwani, 29, placed her daughter, who is now five months old, in infant care at a childcare centre, but pulled her out after less than a week. One reason was that she felt her baby did not get as much attention from the staff as she would like.

As she personally knows a childminder working for Kidibliss, Ms Azyan feels comfortable sending her daughter to that particular childminder's house. Her daughter is the only baby her nanny cares for currently.

"We know her and her family dynamics personally," she said. "If we don't know her personally, I fear a lack of accountability."

Like Ms Azyan, Madam H.C. Tan, who declined to give her full name, is also worried about the possibility of abuse if she sends her baby to the house of a nanny who is a stranger.

At a centre setting, both mothers feel there are other adults to help look out for and support one another and report any abuse, and there are also CCTVs installed.

Madam Tan, a 44-year-old operations professional, sends her eight-month-old daughter to the Tampines East CC set-up by EduNanny.

She likes the childminding service for the flexibility it offers, as she does not send her daughter there on days when her parents or in-laws are able to help look after her baby.

She said: "I am not comfortable placing my kid in a stranger's house. I don't know who goes to the house, and I don't feel safe."