Recognise 'care work' as work for Workfare

The following article was published in the Straits Times on 28 Feb 2007.

Recognise 'care work' as work for Workfare
Straits Times, 28 February 2007

'I WISH to ask the House to reflect on whether the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) scheme will, inadvertently encourage more and more older people to live on their own? Let me explain.

When an elderly couple live with the adult child he/she is expected to help out with caring for the grandchildren.

On top of grandparenting duties, the elderly couple may have health problems, or mental stress due to inability to discipline the young kids.

In some households, the adult children may not even give any pocket money to the older people and assume that since they co-reside, they should contribute by babysitting.

Conflicts may propel the elderly couple to find peace in a rental flat away from the friction of inter-generational ties.

So why do I say that WIS may inadvertently push more elderly to strike out on a path of independent living? Well, if they manage to get some work, for example at a hawker stall or cleaning job, they can benefit from WIS.

My question is, why should a family member continue to care for an older spouse or a grandchild if social policies actually encourage working for someone outside the family?

We need to address the key question here: Is 'care work' to be recognised as work?

If Singapore is to continue to witness families that are strong and healthy, it has to recognise 'care work' seriously.

Statistics for Singapore are not available currently, but we can assume that many thousands of dollars are saved when altruistic family members assume the responsibility of care for the sick and disabled.

In the bottom 20 per cent of the economic ladder, family caregivers are not benefiting from any of the incentives such as aged parent tax relief, waiver of foreign maid levy, or grandparent caregiver tax relief.

If, ideologically, we recognise that 'care work' is a form of work, it would not be difficult to create a sub-category under informal workers in the WIS, that supplements their income in the same way as the self-employed.

The non-working primary caregivers, above the age of 35 years, in poor families need some form of safety net that offers them social security and dignity when they are old.

Including them in the WIS scheme will be a concrete gesture (not just rhetoric) on the part of the Government that 'filial piety' as well as 'family caregiving' is a value that is recognised and treasured.'

Maid levy cut by $30 a month for all

The following article was published in the Straits Times on 14 Feb 2007.

Maid levy cut by $30 a month for all
Straits Times, 16 February 2007

Those hiring domestic help for disabled family members will pay concession rate

GOOD news on two fronts for those with foreign maids in yesterday's Budget.

First, the monthly $295 levy payable to the Government will be cut for all households by $30, to $265, starting from July.

And second, households which employ a maid to help with the care of a disabled family member will from Nov 1 qualify for the $200 concessional rate for the levy.

Previously, the special rate applied only to those with young children and elderly parents. Concessions to the foreign maid levy will be extended to disabled employers and those with disabled family members from Nov 1.

Maid employers have long argued that the $295 monthly levy means they will have to pay lower wages to maids.

The levy charges begin a day after the maid arrives in Singapore. For first-time foreign domestic workers, the levy will begin on the fourth day after she arrives.

In announcing the levy changes, Second Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said many households across Singapore would benefit significantly.

'This will benefit one in every six households in Singapore, which currently employs a foreign maid. It will be particularly helpful for families which need a maid to help take care of dependants,' he said.

The changes to the maid levy will cost the Government a total of $75 million a year in lost revenue. However, it was welcome news for many families with foreign domestic help.

Homemaker Theresa Ng, 40, said: 'The payment is usually made by Giro so we don't really get to see it, not like a cash rebate where the benefit is immediate.'

But the mother of three said that in the long term, it would 'get to a point where the benefits become significant'.

Others such as Madam M.L. Cheng, 50, warmly welcomed the news that the concessional levy is being extended beyond those households with young children and elderly parents.

She hired a foreign maid after her father died to help look after her 48-year-old brother, who is crippled and suffers from epilepsy.

'The $95 a month will help as the bulk of my expenses comes from medication and supplements,' she said. 'For families who are not so well-off and need the extra cash, it will definitely help them cope better.'

However, for Miss Vivian Goh, who suffers from muscular atrophy but is unable to afford the cost of hiring a maid, the levy remains steep even after the cut.

'My mother is not working and we depend on charity and an income of between $200 and $300 a month. I think even with the concession, we still can't afford to hire a helper,' she said.

Mr Tharman said details on the qualifying criteria for the changes will be announced by the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, later.