Dr Wan Rizal asked the Minister for Social and Family Development with reference to the latest Government survey on household expenditure stating that preschool education spending increased from $1 billion in 2018 to $1.3 billion in 2023 (a) what steps are implemented to further alleviate the financial burden on families, especially for middle-income households who may not qualify for the highest subsidies; (b) how effective have recent fee cap reductions in preschool fees improve affordability; and (c) whether there are plans to enhance subsidies or expand access to Government-supported preschools.
The Minister of State for Social and Family Development (Ms Sun Xueling) (for the Minister for Social and Family Development): The increase in household expenditure on pre-primary education corresponds to: one, an overall increase in enrolment of children in preschools; and two, more parents enrolling their children in full-day childcare over half-day kindergarten.
The expenditure statistics quoted by the member are nominal figures, so part of the increase is due to inflation during this period.
From 2018 to 2023, the total number of resident children enrolled in childcare centres and kindergartens increased from 157,900 to 167,700. The number of children enrolled in childcare centres typically offering full-day programmes increased from 110,200 to 145,400, whereas the number of children enroled in kindergartens typically offering half-day programmes decreased from 47,700 to 22,300. Since full-day childcare generally costs more than half-day kindergarten, this would likely have contributed to higher overall expenditure on pre-primary education.
The Government has made it a priority to enhance the affordability of childcare services through various ways. All Singapore Citizen children can receive up to $300 basic subsidy regardless of their families’ income level. Families who qualify for additional subsidy receive additional subsidies of $80 to $467 depending on their income tier.
In 2020, we raised the household income ceiling for additional subsidy from $7,500 to $12,000, and increased the quantum across all eligible income tiers so that more families could benefit from subsidies.
We also impose fee caps on Anchor Operators (AOP) and Partner Operators (POP), and we have progressively reduced fee caps over the years. Fees for full-day childcare for AOP centres have fallen from $720 in 2022 to $640 in 2025. Fees for POP centres have fallen from $760 in 2022 to $680 in 2025. We will make a further reduction to AOP and POP preschool fee caps next year.
As a result of the fee caps, the industry median childcare fee before the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has come down from $800 in 2018 to $720 in 2023. With fee cap reductions and the aforementioned subsidy enhancements, a median-income household with a child attending full-day childcare in an AOP centre spent 3.1% of their household income on preschool in 2023 compared to 4.9% in 2018.