Counting the cost of ‘affordable’ childcare

 

Every parent wants affordable and accessible childcare services.

But in Malaysia, this is not always possible. In some cases, parents are forced to rely on unregistered childcare centres where the child minders are exploited.

According to the Social Welfare Department (JKM), there were 1,080 unregistered nurseries as of December 2022.

The Child Care Centre Act 1984 requires all childcare centres to be registered with JKM.

Operators of registered childcare centres must abide by the regulations to ensure a safe environment and quality care for children at their premises.

In addition, every child minder must be covered by the Employment Act and be paid at least the minimum wage of RM1,500.

They are also required to contribute to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and be covered by the Social Security Organisation (Socso).

The bad apples 

Recent headlines indicate that there is a lack of enforcement of the regulations and that endangers our children and their minders.

More disconcerting is a recent report that some childcare centres with ties to a certain political party remain unregistered.

For instance, the operator of one such chain of childcare centres advertises itself as a business but offers its services as a low-cost social initiative.

It has been alleged that their child minders have been recruited as “volunteers” who are paid only RM500 a month and are not covered by EPF and Socso.

They charge a fee of only RM100 a month compared with about RM1,000 that one is expected to pay for childcare at a registered centre.

This makes them extremely competitive and attractive to low-income families.

On the other hand, it also raises questions about the ability of such centres to ensure the safety and well-being of both the children and their carers.

Lax enforcement of the law at these centres leaves children at risk of getting hurt or abused. Furthermore, the child minders are mostly untrained, have no formal support and are prone to be exploited.

In the end, the children have to pay the price when an unfortunate event occurs at these affordable but unregistered childcare centres.

The challenge of bureaucracy 

Taking a step back, addressing this issue is more than just improving enforcement of the law.

From the childcare centre operators’ perspective, the registration process is complex and fragmented.

It comes with layers of red tape. The qualification of each child minder has to be verified by JKM, a certificate of fitness for occupation of the premises must be sought from the Fire and Rescue Department and various other approvals must be obtained from local authorities.

Under the Child Care Centre Act 1984, each childcare centre is allowed to take in only children aged four and below, and they must adhere to the carer-to-child ratio.

Additional compliance is required if the centre wishes to provide care for older children or daycare services.

All these regulatory requirements add up to a hefty bill for operators, discouraging them from seeking registration that would have made it impossible to offer affordable rates and pay their employees a fair wage.

As a result, many child minders begin their career with a passion for childcare but eventually give up on account of the low salary, bad prospects and burnout.

Fertile ground for bad service 

The high demand for affordable and quality childcare and tedious compliance put cost and pricing pressures on childcare centres.

While childcare centres aimed at middle-to-high income households may do well with better earnings, many of those targeting low-income households struggle to stay afloat.

Thus, the lack of affordable, accessible and accredited childcare services for low-income families creates a space for the mushrooming of unregistered childcare centres.

And for those who cannot afford it, childcare becomes a burden, mostly for women, forcing them to work double shifts or to become full-time mothers.

The way forward 

In conclusion, the challenges surrounding childcare services in Malaysia today call for a more holistic and comprehensive reform to develop our care economy.

Policymakers will have to ensure that the standard of childcare remains high while steps are taken to reduce unnecessary red tape that will have an impact on the cost of doing business and to ensure fair compensation for child minders.

Ultimately, it is about bridging the gap between regulatory requirements and practical implementation.

As Malaysia strives to achieve high-income nation status, the care economy will be key to our nation’s prosperity and well-being.

Rather than view it as a welfare problem, we can develop the care economy into a fair, productive and sustainable industry to support families and nurture our future generations.

After all, care does not come free. The burden is only shifted onto the shoulders of those who will have to sacrifice the time they would otherwise spend on other pursuits.- FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.