LOW-INCOME families and the most vulnerable Singaporeans will get more government assistance to help them cushion the impact of the economic recession.

The Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports will spend about $77 million this year on various ComCare programmes to help these families and their children. It also assures them that help will be administered more flexibly.

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The $77 million is an increase of 54 per cent from the $50 million the ministry projected for last year.

MCYS Minister Vivian Balakrishnan announced these additional help in Parliament on Wednesday

From April 1, public assistance rates will be raised by between $30 and $120 a month, with additional help for children from families on the scheme so that they can continue their education. These families will receive up to $130 per month for each child.

At the same time, an elderly public assistance recipient living alone will get $30 more a month - to $360 - while a family of four will see their assistance upped from $830 to $950 a month.

Dr Balakrishnan gave the assurance that social assistance through ComCare will be administered flexibly to best cushion the impact of the economic recession on the most vulnerable members of society.

MCYS will also give help to families whose breadwinners have lost their jobs, by making it more flexible for them to get assistance under the Work Support Programme.

This will be extended from six months to a year for those who need a longer period of help while they upgrade their skills and find a job.

Families who are not on the scheme but face genuine problems coping with basic living expenses can also seek help from the workfare-based programme.

Beneficiaries receive temporary financial, medical and educational assistance and vouchers to pay for rental, utilities and service and conservancy charges. Some 2,400 people are now on the programme.

For children from vulnerable families, kindergarten and childcare will be made even more affordable for low-income families from July.

This is to ensure that no child will miss out on getting an education because his parents cannot afford to send him to pre-school during the downturn, said Dr Balakrishnan.

MCYS will further raise the subsidies under the ComCare centre-based financial assistance scheme for childcare (Cfac) and the Kindergarten financial assistance scheme (KiFas).

Low-income families with monthly income of $1,500 or less will get at least 95 per cent in subsidies for childcare and kindergarten fees.

Currently, these families pay about $40 per month for a child attending childcare and $18 per month for a child in kindergarten. With the increased subsidy, they will only need to pay about $10 for childcare and $5 for kindergarten per month.

Together with the universal government childcare subsidy, which was recently raised from $150 to $300, the savings to low-income families will be substantial, said MCYS. The enhancements are expected to benefit about 12,600 children.