On the Aunty app, all sitters undergo a screening process through which their identity cards are verified. They are then checked for any previous criminal record and have to fill out an application form where they have to detail their childcare experience and certifications.
A phone interview is also conducted to assess their personality and communication skills, and Aunty actively monitors reviews of bookings and tracks babysitters' reliability ratings, and those who fall short will be removed from the app, said the platform founder Ms Amanda Ong.
In her speech announcing the MSF childminding pilot, Minister of State for Social and Family Development Sun Xueling noted that childminders - more often known as babysitters or nannies - were more common in Singapore in the 1970s and 1980s.
These nannies looked after a few children in their own homes or travelled to a family's home to care for a child.
"They are less common today as parents may be unsure of where to look for trusted childminders or they may find childminding relatively more expensive as compared to other caregiving options, such as infant care centres," said Ms Sun.
Dr Tan Ern Ser, a sociologist from NUS, said that the higher educational attainment and labour force participation of women would have also decreased the supply of childminders.
Other experts cited the plethora of infant care options available today.
"In the 70s and 80s, parents did not have the choice of placing their infants in structured infant-care centres like today," noted Dr Cynthia Lim, the head of the Bachelor of Early Childhood Education programme at the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS).
Infant care centres were only set up in the last 20 years or so, she pointed out.
And such centres have become more popular as they are subsidised, and working mothers get additional childcare subsidies, noted Ms Priscilla Tay, DOT's programme development and incubator manager.
In countries such as Australia and the United States, however, home-based care models are state-supported.
National childcare subsidies in these countries extend to home-based services, and childminders have to undergo regular training and safety checks.
It is time for Singapore to adopt a similar approach, experts said, as the need and demand for more flexible care arrangements has increased.
The option of childminding services would also be a boon to those who might not want to send their babies to an infant care centre, where they are exposed to many other children while their immunity is still weak.
Dr Lucy Quek, dean of curriculum and programmes at the National Institute of Early Childhood Development, added that childminders are known to offer extra services, such as sending the children to the doctor for vaccinations or common cold and flu consultations, services which would not be feasible for an infant care centre to provide.
Childminders can also provide customised one-on-one care, tapping their specialised experience.
Childminders told TODAY that their credentials range from their personal experience as parents to their background in early childhood education or the healthcare sector.
Twenty-year-old Ow Fu Yang, a nursing student who is also a registered babysitter on childminding platform Meide, said offering ad hoc childminding services has provided him with a chance to upskill and learn more about caring for children.
Mr Ow, who is waiting to enlist in National Service, worked for a year in a paediatric ward in a public hospital and brings his experience with basic infant care, first aid, food safety and hygiene to his role as a nanny.
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A phone interview is also conducted to assess their personality and communication skills, and Aunty actively monitors reviews of bookings and tracks babysitters' reliability ratings, and those who fall short will be removed from the app, said the platform founder Ms Amanda Ong.
TIME FOR NANNIES TO MAKE A COMEBACK
In her speech announcing the MSF childminding pilot, Minister of State for Social and Family Development Sun Xueling noted that childminders - more often known as babysitters or nannies - were more common in Singapore in the 1970s and 1980s.
These nannies looked after a few children in their own homes or travelled to a family's home to care for a child.
"They are less common today as parents may be unsure of where to look for trusted childminders or they may find childminding relatively more expensive as compared to other caregiving options, such as infant care centres," said Ms Sun.
Dr Tan Ern Ser, a sociologist from NUS, said that the higher educational attainment and labour force participation of women would have also decreased the supply of childminders.
Other experts cited the plethora of infant care options available today.
"In the 70s and 80s, parents did not have the choice of placing their infants in structured infant-care centres like today," noted Dr Cynthia Lim, the head of the Bachelor of Early Childhood Education programme at the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS).
Infant care centres were only set up in the last 20 years or so, she pointed out.
And such centres have become more popular as they are subsidised, and working mothers get additional childcare subsidies, noted Ms Priscilla Tay, DOT's programme development and incubator manager.
In countries such as Australia and the United States, however, home-based care models are state-supported.
National childcare subsidies in these countries extend to home-based services, and childminders have to undergo regular training and safety checks.
It is time for Singapore to adopt a similar approach, experts said, as the need and demand for more flexible care arrangements has increased.
The option of childminding services would also be a boon to those who might not want to send their babies to an infant care centre, where they are exposed to many other children while their immunity is still weak.
Dr Lucy Quek, dean of curriculum and programmes at the National Institute of Early Childhood Development, added that childminders are known to offer extra services, such as sending the children to the doctor for vaccinations or common cold and flu consultations, services which would not be feasible for an infant care centre to provide.
Childminders can also provide customised one-on-one care, tapping their specialised experience.
Childminders told TODAY that their credentials range from their personal experience as parents to their background in early childhood education or the healthcare sector.
Twenty-year-old Ow Fu Yang, a nursing student who is also a registered babysitter on childminding platform Meide, said offering ad hoc childminding services has provided him with a chance to upskill and learn more about caring for children.
Mr Ow, who is waiting to enlist in National Service, worked for a year in a paediatric ward in a public hospital and brings his experience with basic infant care, first aid, food safety and hygiene to his role as a nanny.
Continue reading...