Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Following is a question by the Hon Maggie Chan and a reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, in the Legislative Council today (June 17):
Question:
The Government increased the Child Care Centre Parent Subsidy to a maximum of $1,000 per month in April 2024, and further expanded the School-based After School Care Service Scheme (the Scheme) in the 2025-2026 school year. As at February this year, there were already 205 primary schools participating in the Scheme, providing over 10 000 service places. Regarding the strengthening of support for working families in childbearing, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of cases that have received the Child Care Centre Parent Subsidy in full since April 2024; among them, the proportion of infants and toddlers from birth to under the age of two who have benefited;
(2) given that under the Scheme, care services on weekdays are provided until 6pm or 6.30pm, and may be extended to 7pm in individual schools, whether the Government has plans for extending the service hours of the Scheme to 7pm across the board; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
President,
To support parents in taking care of their children, the Government subsidises non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to provide a variety of day child care services, including the full-day Child Care Centre (CCC) service, the After School Care Programme (ASCP) and the Extended Hours Service (EHS) for school-aged children, the district-based and flexible Occasional Child Care Service (OCCS) and the Neighbourhood Support Child Care Project, as well as implements the School-based After School Care Service Scheme (SBA), to meet the different needs of parents and children.
The reply to the Member’s question on the three parts is as follows:
Currently, there are a total of 21 aided standalone CCCs in Hong Kong, providing 1 536 service places. The SWD is setting up 15 additional aided standalone CCCs in different districts (including North District and Yuen Long) in phases. It is estimated that a total of about 1 500 additional service places will be provided progressively by the end of 2029, almost doubling the existing supply.