How many times have you heard that Singapore is the most expensive city to live in? As much as we hate for it to be true, we cannot deny the rising cost of living in Singapore. To make it worse, raising a child in Singapore is only going to get more expensive.
Fortunately, the government has implemented the Baby Bonus scheme as well as a wide range of childcare subsidies that could help reduce costs. So don’t worry too much about the expenses if you want to add a new member to the family… The government is here to help!
Baby bonus
The baby bonus scheme enables you to receive money from the government to defray costs of raising a child. The baby bonus comes in 3 parts: a cash gift, the First Step grant, and dollar-for-dollar matching of savings for your child.
You can check your child’s eligibility for various grants on Baby Bonus - Parent Portal Homepage, and enrol online. This can be done as early as 8 weeks before your child is born.
Regardless of your income level, you are qualified for the baby bonus cash gift for every child you give birth to. Once you have enrolled in the baby bonus scheme and have registered your baby’s birth, you are likely to receive the cash gift within 10 working days.
The table below shows you a detailed payment schedule:
In addition, you will receive a $3000 First Step Grant which will be deposited into your child’s Child Development Account (CDA). The CDA is an account that every Singaporean baby will automatically get. It is a special savings account that could be under DBS, OCBC or UOB, where the money would be used to pay for your child’s childcare, kindergarten, and medical or optical expenses.
Dollar-for-dollar matching of savings in CDA
The government will match dollar-for-dollar savings deposited into the Child Development Account (CDA). This means that you will receive $3000 from the government when you deposit $3000 into the CDA.
The government will match up to $3000 of savings each for your first and second children, $9000 each for the third and fourth children and $15,000 each for the fifth and any subsequent children.
Childcare Basic and Additional Subsidy
As long as your child is a Singapore citizen enrolled in an Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) licensed childcare, you are entitled to a Basic Subsidy.
The amount of subsidy will depend on the mother’s working status and type of programme the child is enrolled in (eg. full-day or half-day). However, your income level will not be taken into account.
As for additional subsidies, families with a gross monthly household income of $12,000 or less will be eligible for the subsidy. Households with 5 or more family members may also wish to have their income assessed on a per capita basis.
The table below depicts the amount of subsidy you are entitled to, based on eligibility.
Table 1: Infant Care Basic Subsidy for Singapore Citizens aged 2 to 18 months
Table 2: Child Care Basic Subsidy for Singapore Citizen Children aged above 18 months to below 7 years
Here’s a link to the FAQs on enhanced Infant and Childcare subsidies!
Do you still have any more queries?
Feel free to drop us a message.
Alternatively, email joseph@NurtureEducation.com or feel free to visit our centres at these addresses for more information:
Nurture Infant House (Tampines)
(2 to 18 months Infants)
Blk 433, Tampines Street 43, #01-61 (S) 520433
Genesis Childcare 1989 (Taman Jurong)
Blk 153, Yung Ho Road, #01-41 (S) 610153
Genesis Childcare 1989 (Tampines)
Blk 433, Tampines Street 43, #01-63 (S) 520433
Thanks !
Note:
For parents living in the east of Singapore and are looking for a childcare in Tampines, Genesis Childcare Tampines has had 31 years of experience in caring for your little ones. It is definitely one of the leading Tampines childcare centres!
Similarly, for parents living in the east of Singapore and are looking for an infant care centre in Tampines or a Tampines preschool, Nurture Infant House is one of the leading Tampines infant care centres with more than a decade of experience in caring for your beloved children.