Needy families to get monthly $120 maid grants

AsiaOne
Tuesday, Aug 07, 2012

SINGAPORE - More than 6,000 households will receive $120 per month over the next five years under the Foreign Domestic Worker Grant when it starts this October.

The grant will provide support to families whose domestic workers help to take care of family members who are frail or with moderate disabilities.

Households who wish to apply for this grant must have a per capita monthly income of $2,200 or less.

For those with no income, the annual value of their property should be less than $13,000.

In addition, the foreign domestic worker must be taking care of an elderly person or person with disabilities who have been assessed as having at least moderate disabilities by a panel of general practitioners.

For instance, they require assistance with activities such as showering, bathing, feeding, dressing, toileting, transferring or mobility.

The estimated budget for the grant over the next five years is $25 million.

It was first announced by Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports, Mdm Halimah Yacob, at the MCYS Committee of Supply debate in March this year.

Mdm Halimah said the grant will help alleviate the cost of families who hire Foreign Domestic Workers to take care of frail or disabled family members.

"As caring for the frail elderly and disabled can be challenging, I also hope that more families will send their foreign domestic workers for training so that they can be better equipped to serve as caregivers," she said.

Households will need to send their foreign domestic workers for relevant training in care giving.

The existing Caregivers Training Grant (CTG) can be used by eligible persons to defray the cost of training.

The grant is now open for application. Application details for the FDWG are currently available at CEL's website (www.cel.sg).

Households currently receiving the Foreign Domestic Worker Levy Concession will also receive a mail package containing information on the application procedure and the necessary application forms in the next few weeks.