Is It More Expensive To Raise A Child In Malaysia Or Singapore?

Written by Fiona Ho

It’s no secret that raising a child can be crazy expensive wherever you live and these costs begin even before the baby is born.

For instance, Malaysian parents can expect to pay up to RM10,000 just to cover the cost of pregnancy check-ups and delivery fees if they opt for the private route – and this is a route preferred by over 40% of Malaysians, according to a poll by Babycentre.

Prenatal and delivery services at these facilities could cost at least 8X more compared to a public hospital.

Meanwhile, statistics by Singapore’s Ministry of Health show that 80% of Singaporeans obtain “costly hospitalisation care” from their public health system, meaning that many Singaporeans could be paying just around S$1,324 for prenatal and delivery services combined.

Incidentally, Singapore’s healthcare system was ranked the 1^st most efficient in the world by Bloomberg in 2014.

Of course, the cost of raising a child will only go up as you delve further into parenthood and one of the biggest financial drains that come with it would be your child’s education.

In Malaysia, flip flops in the national schooling system and lower-than-average national scores in worldwide quality assessment programmes has prompted many parents to send their children to international schools. If this is a move you’re considering, then be prepared to fork out AT LEAST RM1 million over the course of 12 to 13 years!

Meanwhile, public schools remain the preferred mode of education across the Causeway. This is hardly surprising, as Singapore’s education system is often touted as one of the world’s best.

In fact, the number of private institutions has fallen from 338 in 2011, to 312 in 2014 in the island republic. In 2015, 10 more private schools exited the industry due to falling enrolment rates, according to figures provided by Singapore’s Council for Private Education (CPE).

However, while public school education costs next to nothing for Singaporeans, many parents spend up to thousands of dollars every year on tuition and enrichment courses for their kids.

This is considered the norm, given that Singapore is the world’s second-most competitive economy, so it is only natural for parents to want to give their children an educational edge in an ever-challenging environment.

Wherever you live, we can all agree that parents only want the best for their children and that the cost of doing that is really no joke!

But which country gives you more for your parenting dollar – Malaysia or Singapore? Check out our infographic for the answer!