Why First-Year Costs Differ From Ongoing Annual Costs
The first year of hiring a helper carries a mix of one-time setup costs and recurring monthly costs — many guides only mention the monthly levy, which understates what you’ll actually spend in year one. Here’s a complete picture, built from the verified figures already covered in this series.
One-Time Costs (Paid Once, Mostly Before or At Arrival)
- Work Permit application + issuance fees: $70 total, paid to MOM ($35 application + $35 issuance)
- Pre-employment medical examination: $30–$90, paid to a clinic
- Settling-In Programme (SIP): $76.40–$92.65, for first-time helpers only
- Employers’ Orientation Programme (EOP): approximately $35–$40, if you’re a first-time employer
- Agency or placement fee: varies significantly by agency, nationality, and experience level — confirm this directly with whichever agency you’re using, since it isn’t a fixed government figure
Combined, the regulated one-time costs alone (excluding the variable agency fee) land somewhere in the $210–$290 range.
Recurring Annual Costs
- Monthly FDW levy: $300/month standard, or $60/month with an eligible concession — working out to $3,600/year standard or $720/year concessionary
- Medical insurance: minimum $60,000/year claim limit — the premium itself (not the claim limit) is what you actually pay, and varies by insurer and your helper’s age band; budget for this as part of your annual insurance package cost, not the $60,000 figure itself
- Personal accident insurance: minimum $60,000 sum assured — again, the premium is the actual cost, typically bundled with medical insurance and the security bond into one package
- Security bond: $5,000 pledge, almost always fulfilled via an insurance bond rather than cash — the cost to you is the bond premium, bundled into the same insurance package above, not the $5,000 itself
Her Salary: The Largest Line Item, and the Least Fixed
Unlike the regulated costs above, there is no government-mandated minimum salary for a domestic helper in Singapore. Salary is negotiated between employer and helper, and varies meaningfully by nationality, experience, and the specific role (a caregiver placement, for instance, may command a different rate than general housekeeping). This is the one figure in your budget you should get directly and specifically from your agency or from the helper herself, rather than relying on a generic estimate — quoting a fixed number here would risk giving you a wrong impression of what you’ll actually need to budget.
Estimating Your Total First-Year Cost
Combining the elements above, a first-year budget generally consists of:
- A one-time setup cost in the low hundreds of dollars (excluding agency fee)
- A bundled insurance + security bond package, paid annually
- The recurring monthly levy — your single biggest predictable ongoing cost, and the one most worth checking for concession eligibility
- Her monthly salary, confirmed directly with your agency or candidate
- Day-to-day upkeep — food and basic living costs, which you’re responsible for but which don’t have a fixed MOM figure since they depend on your household
Basic Amenities: A Required Cost, Not Optional
Beyond salary and the regulated fees already covered, MOM requires you to provide basic amenities as part of her accommodation — this is a genuine Work Permit condition, not a courtesy. Per MOM’s official Employer’s Guide, you must minimally provide:
- A mattress, pillow, and blanket
- Sufficient ventilation — natural or mechanical (a fan, if the room lacks windows)
- Bathroom amenities and basic toiletries
- Storage space for her personal belongings
- A sleeping area that protects her from the elements, is safe, and offers reasonable privacy — a separate room isn’t strictly mandated, but adequate space and privacy are
There’s no fixed MOM-published dollar figure for this, since it depends entirely on what your home already has versus what needs to be bought. In practice, most employers spend a modest one-time amount here — a proper mattress, bedding, a fan if needed, and basic storage — rather than a recurring cost, but it’s worth budgeting for upfront rather than assuming your existing spare room or storeroom is automatically compliant as-is.
Utilities: A Real But Often-Overlooked Recurring Cost
This isn’t a MOM-regulated figure at all — it’s simply a practical reality of an additional person living in your home full-time. Expect a noticeable increase in:
- Electricity — from cooking, laundry, ironing, and general household appliance use
- Water — from cleaning, laundry, and daily personal use
How much this adds varies household to household, but it’s a genuine ongoing cost worth factoring into your monthly budget alongside the levy and insurance — not a one-time item, and not something that shows up in any government fee schedule, since it’s simply a function of your own household’s consumption patterns increasing.
As with every regulatory topic in this series: accommodation and amenity requirements are set by MOM and can be updated. Employers MUST check MOM’s official website directly for the current requirements rather than relying solely on this guide.
How to Reduce Your Annual Cost With the Levy Concession
If your household has an eligible child under 16, a parent or parent-in-law aged 67 or above, or a person with disabilities requiring daily living assistance, the levy concession drops your single largest predictable cost from $3,600/year to $720/year — a meaningful difference worth checking before assuming the standard rate applies to you.
As with every regulatory topic in this series: levy rates, insurance minimums, and fee amounts are set by MOM and can change. Employers MUST check MOM’s official website directly for the latest figures before finalising any budget, rather than relying solely on this guide.
We Give You a Full Breakdown Before You Commit
Rather than leaving you to piece together costs from multiple sources, we walk through your specific first-year budget — including your actual eligibility for the levy concession and a clear quote for our placement fee — before you commit to anything.
Get in touch for a full, transparent cost breakdown →
