By Lediati Tan

WHEN the Government announced last August that it was increasing childcare subsidies as part of the Enhanced Marriage and Parenthood Package, Mr C Lee was overjoyed.

The subsidies would come in handy since he was going to put his 2-year-old daughter in childcare four months later, he thought.

But his joy was short-lived.

In January, the technician was informed by the childcare centre that the fees would be raised by $70 from April.

Now, the Lees pay $530 a month for full-day childcare services for their only child. Their childcare subsidy is now $300 instead of $150, so it still offsets the fee increase.

Still, Mr Lee, 30, is upset. Why give subsidies only to have a fee increase later, he wondered.

Last month, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS), said in Parliament that 132, or 18 per cent, of the 749 childcare centres in Singapore had raised fees or had announced their intention to do so since last August.

Last September, The Sunday Times reported that a month after higher childcare subsidies were announced, 17 of the 20 childcare centres it contacted indicated their intention to raise fees by $30 to $120 a month.

An MCYS spokesman told The New Paper that in the past month, another 17 centres had notified it of fees revisions to take effect this month and in April.

As childcare centres are private businesses, they can increase fees at their own discretion, the spokesman said. They need only inform MCYS and the parents of a fee revision at least two months before the implementation.

Mr Lee said: 'More subsidies followed by an increase in fees is no help at all.'

He said the higher childcare subsidies was a 'big push' for him and his wife to have a second child.

His wife, 30, is due to give birth in September.

With their combined income of $3,000, the couple need to send their child to childcare as Mr Lee and his wife, an administrator, have to work to support the family.

He felt that if government subsidies are followed by fee hikes, more couples may be deterred from having more children.

'The subsidies seem to have become an excuse for childcare centres to increase their fees,' he added.

And that they are doing so during the economic downturn irks him further.

'Is this really the best time to increase fees?' he asked.

During the Budget debate last month, Mr Balakrishnan urged childcare centres to hold off fee increases during the downturn.

The couple, who have been married for three years, are supporting their parents and are worried about retrenchment.

When contacted, the centre's principal, who declined to be named, said: 'No parent has complained about the fee increase. All gave their support.'

She said the centre, which is in the west, had informed MCYS about the fee hike and all parents were given three months' advance notice. MCYS confirmed that it had been notified.

She said the increase was to provide a better learning environment for the children by hiring more diploma-trained staff, which requires the centre to offer better pay.

Mr Lee said he may have to stop sending his daughter to the centre after his wife gives birth.

But he added: 'We will tighten our spending and try to let our child stay in childcare for as long as possible until she goes to kindergarten.'

HELP FOR PARENTS

LAST August, the Government announced higher childcare subsidies under the Enhanced Marriage and Parenthood Package to make childcare more affordable.

For working mothers, the maximum monthly subsidy went up from $150 a month per child to $300. Childcare subsidies for non-working mothers rose from $75 a month per child to $150.

The Government also announced it will give up to $21 million a year, by 2013, to help eligible not-for-profit centres upgrade, but private operators are excluded.

Childcare centres will also benefit from the Jobs Credit scheme, which gives them up to $300 a month for each worker to help lower the cost of hiring local workers.

This article was first published in The New Paper.