I stopped working during my pregnancy to take care of our child, who is now 1+ years old. I’ve been actively looking for a job, but with the current market I haven’t had much luck. To help with expenses, I’m doing some freelance nail services from home, but the income is quite irregular.

Recently, my husband was retrenched (since June), so our household income has been significantly affected.

While looking into childcare subsidies, I noticed that most of the information seems to focus only on working mothers. However, I also saw on the ECDA website that there may be support available for families facing financial difficulties.

I’m wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation and can advise:
• When applying for preschool subsidies, should I indicate that I am unemployed and currently job-seeking?
• Or should I apply based on having self-employed/freelance income that is insufficient due to my husband’s recent retrenchment?
• Has anyone successfully appealed for additional subsidy under similar circumstances?
Any advice or sharing of experiences would be greatly appreciated.