To give households more options to meet their need for domestic services, MOM has introduced a two-year pilot programme to provide selected Household Services Scheme (HSS) companies with more Foreign Domestic Workers (FDW) to provide basic child-minding and elder-minding services with effect from 15 March 2023.
This will primarily benefit families that require such domestic support for only a few hours a day or week and give them more options to meet their household needs.
What Is Singapore’s Household Services Scheme And How Is It Different From Hiring A FDW?
The HSS allows companies to hire more migrant workers to provide part-time domestic services, such as home cleaning, grocery shopping, car-washing and pet-sitting. Through the expanded scheme, companies can hire more migrant workers to provide part-time domestic services, including basic child-minding and elder-minding services.
Households can engage companies to provide basic minding services for children above 18 months old and elderly family members.
The difference between engaging a full-time FDW and the services of an HSS company is that the workers live with their employers, and can only work for them. Meanwhile, workers from HSS companies can be deployed to multiple houses on a part-time basis to provide select household services. They also do not live in the houses that they work at.
Families who need household services on an ad-hoc basis can engage the service of a HSS company, instead of hiring a full-time live-in FDW. These are efforts to help Singaporeans better balance work and family commitments.
Currently, there are around 140 HSS companies providing part-time household services to over 21,000 homes. With the expanded scope, selected HSS companies will have additional manpower to offer part-time basic caregiving services and give households more choices for respite care.
HSS pilot companies must ensure that their workers providing elder-minding services have met the training requirements set by the Ministry of Health. HSS workers providing elder-minding services must attend training courses or undergo competency assessments if they do not have relevant qualifications.
Households using child- or elder-minding services should also ask the provider for the experience, qualification and training of the worker deployed, and assess the suitability of the worker for the care needs of the household. Households are also advised to have a member of the household present to supervise, especially when using the services of the worker for the first time.
But First, How Do Other Countries Engage Their Foreign Domestic Workers? Do They Pay Less For the Workers And Follow The Same Structure?
In Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, the use case for foreign domestic workers are more prevalent. They have been tapping on such young workers in their homes for S$500 to S$800 per month.
These countries are considered attractive destinations by FDWs. The workers are recruited primarily by a large number of specialised agencies, with local firms connected to people in the workers’ home countries.
The use case for FDWs in other Asian nations is not as prevalent. In an article in 2020, a Korean Chinese babysitter’s minimum salary was KRW 1.7 million (S$1,719) per month, while a Korean babysitter costs KRW 2.5 million at least. As for Japan, the concept of hiring foreigners to care for elderly and baby is not as culturally accepted. But some Japanese cities have decided to import foreign domestic workers, for example Osaka.
According to multiple reports, the usage of inexpensive foreign domestic workers to take care of children, aging parents and housekeeping has helped Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan to increase their women participation in employment and ease manpower deficits due to lower birth rates and aging populations.
In Singapore, for example, the labour participation rate for women is at 60.4%, which is higher than S Korea’s 52.1% and Hong Kong’s 54.8%. The FDWs as a percentage of total population is around 4% in Singapore.
In Taiwan, there are around 250,000 workers hired for domestic care and service, and this makes up 1% of total population. Over 99% of these workers are women, with 50% aged between 35 and 44.
| Country | Total Population | Per capita GDP (US$) | Labour Participation Rate – Women | Foreign Domestic Workers (FDW) As Percentage Of Total Population | Monthly Wages Of FDWs |
| Singapore | 5.7 million | $52,755 | 60.4% | 4.2% | S$550 to S$750 |
| Hong Kong | 7.3 million | $42,097 | 54.8% | 4.7% | S$790 |
| S Korea | 50.5 million | $27,195 | 52.1% | 0.4% | S$1,700 – S$3,000 |
Source: KangNam Labour Law Firm
As for Hong Kong, FDWs comprise 5% of its total population, of which 98.5% of them are women. The workers, similar to Singapore’s laws, are required to live in their employer’s residence and can perform household tasks such as cooking, serving, cleaning, dishwashing, and childcare.
In Hong Kong there are also rules and regulations concerning the employment, labour and conditions of stay in FDWs, including a certain amount in household income, levy, free medical treatment, and a monthly salary with no less than the minimum allowable wage of HK$4,630 (S$787) set by the government.
Similarly, the legal rules on hiring a FDW are also for one household only. If you employ a part-time FDW in Hong Kong who has permission only to work for another employer, then you may be prosecuted for aiding and abetting a breach of conditions of stay. Permission is rarely, if ever, given to FDWs to work part-time outside the home of the sponsoring employer, although in theory, it is legally possible.
Read Also: Why It Makes Financial Sense To Open A Joint Savings Account With Your Elderly Parents
Pros And Cons To The Household Services Scheme Vs A Live-In Full Time Maid
The HSS services are intended to cater to households who intermittently need additional help with basic child- and elder-minding. You should approach specialised caregiving companies if a higher level of care is required (eg., home nursing or home medical services).
QN: What’s the difference between having a live-in helper and a part-time one?
Having a helper in the house 24-7 will make a difference if you have elderly or children at home that require high levels of care and attention, it can ease your burden of having to attend to the person(s) and focus on other important tasks, like earning income to support the needs of the dependents.
The good side of an HSS temp helper will be that you can have at least some privacy in the home. That is if you do not need high levels of care for dependents, and only require a helper for cleaning and housekeeping duties.
| Pros to having a live in maid | Pros to having an HSS temp helper |
| If you have elderly at home who require constant care and attention (e.g. eating and using the washroom), then the live in maid will be able to attend to the person consistently. | You only have a stranger in your home for certain times of the day and can choose when you are able to outsource your tasks. When you are working from home, you can engage the service and be able to focus at work. |
| Cons to having a live in maid | Cons to having an HSS temp helper |
| Having a live-in helper will mean less privacy in the house. You have a stranger living in your home so you cannot be as relaxed after taking a shower etc. | There will be emergency situations when tending to elderly (e.g. suddenly not feeling well and needing to see the doctor or need special care.) and you cannot immediately have the service provider send a helper over to take care of things. You will likely have to take leave if you are working to deal with the situation. |
QN: How about the difference between the two on living expenses and accommodation needs?
It will certainly cost more when you have a live-in helper as it is equivalent to paying for the living expenses of one more person in the house. You will also have to give up a bedroom in your house for the helper to live in, or the full-time helper has to agree with other living arrangements, such as sleeping in the same room with elderly, during recruitment.
| Pros to having a live in maid | Pros to having an HSS temp helper |
| A helper can help to cook meals for the dependents at home, saving some money compared to if you had to spend if you had to buy takeaway food every day for them. This saves you time from having to buy takeaway food for your dependents. | You have one less headcount to attend to, and can get some savings from no need to pay for the living expenses of a live-in helper. |
| Cons to having a live in maid | Cons to having an HSS temp helper |
| You will have to give up a bedroom in your house for the helper to live in, or the helper has to agree with other living arrangements (e.g. sleeping in the same room with elderly or kids). There are also living expenses you have to pay for, such as food, electricity and water consumption, and toiletries, which can add up to a few hundred dollars a month. Bear in mind medical fees too if she falls sick. | You will have to cook your own meals or order takeaway food which will cost quite a bit. Unless you hire the temp helper to cook meals, instead of other tasks like cleaning the home. |
QN: If both of you are working individuals, how will having a full-time helper vs a HSS temp helper be different?
When you engage a full-time helper, you will have less salary for yourself as you have to carve out a portion of your income to pay for the helper every month, until the contract ends. For a part-timer, you can pay only when you require the services.
But then, highly dependents who need high levels of care, it is worth using a portion of your income to pay for the caring and daily needs of them while you go to work as you can semi switch off from the worries of leaving the dependents alone at home with nobody to tend to them.
| Pros to having a live in maid | Pros to having an HSS temp helper |
| You can switch off from the worries of dependents alone at home and having nobody to tend to them. Can head to work without worrying as much. | You pay only when you require the services, and can keep more money earned for yourself. |
| Cons to having a live in maid | Cons to having an HSS temp helper |
| You have to fork out a sum from your salary to pay for the services rendered, meaning you will have less salary for yourself to spend. | You might have to wing it when emergencies happen, like taking urgent leave or preparing for temp helper to head down immediately if there’s anything urgent required to deal with at home, and that will cause stress to the individual managing these. |
QN: If I have multi-gen family living together, which is a better option?
There are benefits to having a helper tend to a multi-gen family, but it may also cause some people to be overly reliant on the helper.
| Pros to having a live in maid | Pros to having an HSS temp helper |
| The helper can run errands for more than one person, and help ease the workload of caregivers and working parents. | The helper can complete tasks that may require an extra pair of hands. Cleaning the home and rooms of some household members who don’t bother cleaning up after themselves. |
| Cons to having a live in maid | Cons to having an HSS temp helper |
| Some dependents will get over reliant on the helper and end up being unable to tend to themselves. (e.g. unable to feed themselves, unable to do things on their own when the helper is having her off day.) | People get reliant on the helper (be it full time or part time) and end up not cleaning up after themselves and being independent. If you have older children who are teenagers or young adults, you may want the children to learn some household skills and take care of their own needs to be self-reliant. |
Helper Salaries For Full-Time VS Part-Time, Per Day, Per Hour
A general helper in 2023 earns about S$600 on average. Including her expenses per month which will add up to around S$150 to S$300, it costs about S$700 to $900 per month for a helper.
This does not include the sign up fees, agent fees, and the buying of furniture and mattress for the helper to move in.
A part timer costs around S$20 per hour, and if you need a helper for four hours every weekend that adds up to:
S$20 x 4 hours x 2 days x 4 weeks = S$640 a month
| Hiring a full-time helper | Hiring a part-time helper |
| S$700 to $900 a month, not inclusive of admin fees, furniture | S$640 a month |
So Is It Cheaper To Hire A Part-time Helper?
In summary, it is certainly cheaper to hire a part-time helper, and you don’t need to give up a room, can have more privacy at home, and don’t need to worry about your valuables being stolen if you place them around the house carelessly.
The part-time helpers can also help to care for your dependents for a certain amount of hours, allowing you to take a break during the weekend instead of still “working” (as full-time parents) during weekends.
You also save on other fees like the initial costs of hiring a helper (which adds up to a few thousand dollars).
End of the day it also matters if you are earning enough to be able to afford temp help. This is definitely still better than if the wife or the husband decides to stay home and not work, which will be a larger income loss.
A Full-Time Helper Is Suitable When There Is No In-Between Option
This happens when there are working parents with kids or children with elderly parents who have no extended relatives or caregivers available to provide support for them.
This time it would be best to hire a full-time helper to be on “standby” so that she can be able to handle “emergency” situations at all times. It helps to provide peace of mind for the working and income contributors to not be hassled by caregiver problems and can focus at work.
To get part-time help with household chores under the HSS pilot, you can contact any of these HSS companies.
Featured Image Credit: Angela Teng
Read Also: Complete Guide To Renting A HDB Flat Via The Public Rental Scheme In Singapore
The post Why The Government Is Expanding The Household Services Scheme (HSS) To Allow Foreign Domestic Workers To Perform Basic Child & Elder-Minding Services appeared first on DollarsAndSense.sg.
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