Employer's Guide to Caregiver Hiring

There are various schemes and subsidies that can assist you in caring for your aged loved ones who need help with the Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) at home.

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When applying for subsidies and grants for a loved one with care needs, a common eligibility criteria is the level of assistance a care recipient needs to perform the 6 ADLs. Let's take a quick look at what these 6 ADLs are:

What are the 6 Activities of Daily Living?

With an understanding of the 6 ADLS, let's take a look at the various grants and subsidies related to caregiving.

► Home Caregiving Grant (HCG)

What is it:

‍The Home Caregiving Grant (HCG) is a $200 monthly cash payout that families can tap on to defray the costs of caregiving of their loved one.

Who is eligible:

1. The care recipient must be a Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident;
2. If care recipient is a Permanent Resident, the care recipient must have a parent, child or spouse who is a Singapore Citizen;
3. The care recipient must always require some assistance with at least 3 of the 6 Activities of Daily Living;
4. The care recipient must not be in a residential long-term care institution such as a nursing home;
5. The care recipient and his/her household has per capita household monthly income of $2,800 or less, OR belong to a household with no income and living in a residence with Annual Value of $13,000 or less.

Visit this AIC page for more information.

► Pioneer Disability Assistance Scheme (PioneerDAS)

What is it: ‍

The Pioneer Generation Disability Assistance Scheme (PioneerDAS) is a $100 monthly cash payout for pioneers who have disabilities that can be used for their expenses. It is part of the Pioneer Generation Package.

Who is eligible:

1. The pioneer must be born before 1950 and became a Singapore citizen before 1987;
2. The pioneer must be unable to perform at least 3 of the 6 ADLs, and certified by an approved assessor.

Visit this AIC page for more information.

► Eldershield

What is it:

‍Eldershield is a severe disability insurance plan that provides basic financial protection to those who need long-term care.

In the event of severe disability, ElderShield policyholders will receive a monthly cash payout for a period of time, depending on the plan.

Singapore Citizens or Permanent Residents with a Medisave account at age 40 are automatically enrolled in ElderShield unless a person opts out of the scheme.

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Who is eligible:

• The person must need help with at least 3 out of 6 ADLs;
• The person must have ElderShield coverage with one of the ElderShield insurers, namely Aviva, Great Eastern and NTUC Income.

Visit this MOH page for more information.

► Interim Disability Assistance Programme for the Elderly (IDAPE)

What is it:

The Interim Disability Assistance Programme for the Elderly (IDAPE) is an assistance scheme for seniors who are not eligible for ElderShield, because they are too old or had pre-existing disabilities.  

If severe disability develops, these seniors can receive $150 or $250 monthly fixed cash payout (depending on their financial circumstances) for up to 72 months. There is no restriction on how the payments should be used, as long as they are used for the care of the disabled IDAPE claimant.

Who is eligible:

1. The care recipient must be a Singapore Citizen and living in Singapore;
2. The care recipient must be unable to perform 3 or more of the 6 Activities of Daily Living, and be certified by an approved assessor;
3. The care recipient must be born between 1 October 1932 and 30 September 1962 (both dates inclusive) with pre-existing disabilities as of 30 September 2002 OR be born on or before 30 September 1932;
4. The care recipient's per capita household monthly income is $2,800 or less OR the care recipient has no household income and is living in a residence with Annual Value of $13,000 and below.

Visit this AIC page for more information.

► Levy Concession for a Migrant Domestic Worker (MDW)

What is it:

Households who need to hire MDW to care for seniors or persons with disabilities pay a lower monthly concessionary rate of $60.

Who is eligible:

‍There is a concessionary levy of $60 for households with:

• A Singaporean citizen who is at least 67 years old; or
• A Singaporean citizen who is a person with disabilities (PWD) (needs to be certified by Singapore-registered doctor to require help with at least 1 activity of daily living, such as showering, feeding, dressing or toileting); or
• A Singaporean citizen and is staying with a parent, parent-in-law, grandparent or grandparent-in-law who is a Singapore permanent resident and is at least 67 years old.

1 eligible person in the household would grant a levy concession for 1 FDW. There is a maximum of 2 FDWs per household for the levy concession.

Visit this MOM page for more information.

Concessionary levy is granted automatically by the MOM using the household information submitted during work permit application if the criteria for age, citizenship and residential address eligibility are met. For PWD below 67 years old, to apply for levy concession for a PWD loved one, visit this AIC page for more information.

► Caregivers Training Grant (CTG)

What is it:

‍The Caregivers Training Grant (CTG) is a subsidy of up to $200 per eligible care recipient per financial year, to train a family member or Foreign Domestic Worker (FDW) to provide care for the care recipient.

The financial year for use of the $200 subsidy runs from April of the current year to March of the following year.

Who is eligible:

• The care recipient must be a Singapore citizen or Permanent Resident;
• The care recipient must be aged 65 years old and above OR be certified to have a disability by a doctor;
• The caregiver undergoing the training must be an immediate family member or FDW looking after the care recipient;
• The caregiver must complete any of the CTG-approved training courses.

We are a CTG-approved training provider. Visit this page to discover more our courses or contact us for more information.

► Seniors' Mobility and Enabling Fund

What is it:

‍The Seniors’ Mobility and Enabling Fund (SMF) provides subsidies to seniors to defray the costs of assistive devices and home healthcare items.

Under this scheme, assistive devices are items that helps the senior in moving around such as walking sticks and wheelchairs as well as items that a senior may need at home such as commodes, hospital beds and hearing aids. Home healthcare items include catheters, milk supplements, adult diapers and nasal tubing.

Visit this AIC page for more information.

► Enhancement For Active Seniors

What is it:

‍The Enhancement for Active Seniors (EASE) programme by the Housing and Development Board provides subsidies for home modification for senior residents. Under the EASE programme, there are 3 improvement items:

• Slip-resistant treatment to existing floor tiles of up to 2 bathrooms/ toilets
• Grab bars within flat (8 or 10 grab bars for first toilet and 6 grab bars for second toilet)
• Up to a maximum of 5 ramps within flat and/ or at main entrance

Who is eligible:

The flat owner must be a Singapore Citizen with a family member in the household who is:

• aged 65 years old and above; or
• aged between 60 and 64 years and requires assistance for at least 1 ADL.

Visit this HDB page for more information.

To enquire or apply for the diffierent types of grants and schemes, you can refer to the links to the relevant web pages or contact the relevant government agencies or organisations directly for more information.