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SINGAPORE – More people could work nights to try to make up for lost income during the coronavirus pandemic.
A fourth night care center for children from low-income families, run by the charity Morning Star Community Services, opens Monday (February 1) in Toa Payoh.
It reflects the growing demand for such services, driven in part by financial instability brought on by Covid-19, says Ms Jagdeep Kaur, Head of Programs and Volunteer Management at Morning Star.
The new center, called CareNights @ Agape Village, provides families, including those with parents seeking work, “the opportunity to improve their financial situation while providing their children with a safe, supportive and structured environment at night.” He says.
While there has always been a demand for night care services, the pandemic has exacerbated the demand.
“In my interaction with the families we serve, what has stood out is the irregularity of their working hours, which is more pronounced compared to before Covid-19,” he says.
The new center offers childcare services for children ages 6 to 14 during the week between 6:00 pm and 10:00 pm It is offered free to households whose combined gross income is less than $ 4,500.
These families include parents who have lost their jobs or have to take on an ad hoc job or two jobs because their income has been reduced by the effect of Covid-19 on the economy.
Other beneficiaries include single parents and grandparents who are the primary caregivers of their grandchildren, as they may need a break at night.
Located in Agape Village, a social services center in Toa Payoh, the program seeks to boost children’s social and emotional development and help them develop skills such as critical thinking. Activities such as art and dance are also offered.
Morning Star, which also offers other services such as student care, counseling and parenting workshops, opened its first night care center in 2016 in Bedok.
Two other centers followed, one in Bedok and one in Sengkang. About 80 children are enrolled in the four centers in total.
Housewife Sylvia Tan, 44, is enrolling her youngest son in the new center in Toa Payoh because she hopes to improve.
“It’s a good start for stay-at-home mothers who want to work or study,” she says.
She hopes that placing her eight-year-old son in CareNights will give her the opportunity to take night classes under the government’s SkillsFuture credit scheme or find a night job at a fast food restaurant. Your 12-year-old daughter is old enough to stay home alone, if necessary.
Her husband’s income as a private driver transporting passengers to and from the airport has plummeted. He has switched to testing Covid-19 swabs to earn money while working as a driver on the side.
To cope with the loss of income, the family spends less on groceries, buying mainly low-priced items. Ms. Tan has also started eating her children’s leftovers for their meals.
Ms. Aida Jinal, 41, who has enrolled her three minor children, ages 10, 11 and 13, in the CareNights program at Bedok North Avenue 4 since 2019, is also reaping its benefits.
In the middle of last year, the housewife took a food delivery job to supplement the family income after her oldest son, who is 20, lost his job at a snack shop when Covid-19 hit. Ms. Aida’s husband, 47, does odd jobs.
Ms. Aida says that the stress she feels about her financial situation was alleviated because she knows that her three youngest children have a familiar place where they can spend a few hours at night.
She says, “They have a place to study, where they can have dinner if they want. I feel comfortable with the facilitators there. That gives us some relief.”
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