Written Answer by Mrs Josephine Teo Minister for Manpower to PQ on median salaries of foreign domestic workers

NOTICE PAPER NO. 1968 FOR THE SITTING ON 03 FEBRUARY 2020

QUESTION NO. 1586 FOR WRITTEN ANSWER

MP: Assoc Prof Walter Theseira

To ask the Minister for Manpower what is the median salary of foreign domestic workers disaggregated by (i) nationality (ii) whether they are hired through the Eldercarer Foreign Domestic Worker Scheme and (iii) prior work experience in Singapore. 

Answer:

1. Based on salaries declared by employers at the point of initial employment of their foreign domestic workers (FDWs), the median basic monthly salary over the past three years is $560. FDWs who had prior work experience in Singapore receive about $20 more per month. We do not provide nationality-based data to avoid invidious comparisons. The data also does not capture the impact of salary adjustments for longer-serving FDWs.
   
   
2. The basic monthly salaries of FDWs who were hired via the Eldercarer FDW Scheme vary from $400 to $1000, with the median of about $570. The difference in median salaries should not be attributed solely to their Eldercarer training. It can also be a result of other factors, such as the type and length of training courses they have undergone, whether they had prior nursing training and experience, and the level of caregiving needs of the care recipients.