Household income ceiling for pre-school fee subsidies raised to $15,000 to maintain affordability: Goh Pei Ming

The gross monthly household income ceiling for the Additional Subsidy for childcare and Kindergarten Fee Assistance Scheme, or KiFAS, will be raised to $15,000, from January 2027 said Minister of State for Social and Family Development Goh Pei Ming on Friday (March 6).

Speaking during the Committee of Supply debate in Parliament, Goh said that income thresholds for all subsidy tiers will also be increased to reflect household income changes, helping to further reduce fees for more families.

"This will further improve affordability of pre-schools for more than 60,000 lower- and middle-income families with young children," Goh said.

He added, "For example, a median income household earning $12,500, with two children in Anchor Operator childcare, will see their total out-of-pocket fees for both children reduce by 35 per cent from $730 in 2026 to $470 in 2027."

Goh highlighted that, since the start of the year, full-day childcare fees have been capped at $610 for anchor operator pre-schools and $650 for partner operator pre-schools, representing a 15 per cent reduction since 2020.

"With the revised additional subsidy income thresholds announced by PM in his budget speech, many families can expect to pay even lower fees," said Goh.

Anchor and partner operator pre-schools are both government-supported. Anchor operator pre-schools receive more government funding and have strictly capped fees, while partner operator pre-schools have operational flexibility, allowing them to offer unique curricula while still keeping fees capped for affordability.

To improve accessibility, Goh also shared that the ministry has expanded full-day pre-school places from around 135,000 to more than 220,000 over the past decade. 

"We have enough full-day pre-school places for every resident child aged three and above, and have also achieved our commitment of ensuring that 80 per cent of pre-schoolers can have a place in a government supported pre-school," he said. 

Goh added that plans are also underway to add nearly 40,000 more full-day anchor operator places by 2029.

@asiaone To improve affordability of preschools for more than 60,000 lower- and middle-income families with young children, Minister of State for Social and Family Development Goh Pei Ming announced on Friday (March 6) that the gross monthly household income ceiling for the Additional Subsidy for childcare and Kindergarten Fee Assistance Scheme (KiFAS) will be raised to $15,000, from January 2027. #sgnews #Singapore #Parliament #Preschool #Family #Education ♬ original sound - AsiaOne

xingying.koh@asiaone.com