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Parents
Learn more about support for parents including more parental leave, child caregiving support and flexible work options.
Last updated 14 March 2025
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Manage work and family with greater ease
Follow the story of new parents Luqman and Dahlia, as they navigate work and family life:
Financial support for child-raising
Baby Bonus Scheme
Get more financial support as you start and raise your family.
Baby Bonus Cash Gift
Receive a cash gift of $11,000 for your first and second child, and $13,000 for any subsequent children, with regular payouts every six months until your child is six-and-a-half years old. The cash gift is deposited into the Child Savings Account (CSA), a joint savings account that is opened automatically with the Child Development Account (CDA) when your child is enrolled for the Baby Bonus Scheme. You can use the cash gift to help offset child-raising costs.
Child Development Account First Step Grant
Your first and second child will each receive a CDA First Step Grant of $5,000. For your third and subsequent child born on or after 18 February 2025, they will receive an enhanced grant of $10,000. The CDA First Step Grant will be automatically deposited when you open a CDA for your child.
Savings in the CDA can be used for your child’s expenses, covering:
Fees for registered childcare centres, kindergartens, special education schools and early intervention programmes
Medical expenses at healthcare institutions such as hospitals and General Practitioner clinics
Premiums for MediShield Life or MediSave-approved private integrated plans
Assistive technology devices
Eye-related products and services at optical shops
Approved healthcare items at pharmacies
Government co-matching of parents’ savings in the CDA
Enjoy dollar-for-dollar matching from the Government when you save into your child’s CDA, up to the Government co-matching cap.
Summary of Baby Bonus Scheme Benefits
Table 1: Overview of Baby Bonus Scheme
Birth Order | Baby Bonus Cash Gift | Child Development Account (CDA) | |
|---|---|---|---|
First Step Grant | Maximum Government Co-Matching | ||
1st Child | $11,000 | $5,000 | $4,000 |
2nd Child | $7,000 | ||
3rd Child | $13,000 | $10,000* | $9,000 |
4th Child | $9,000 | ||
5th & Subsequent Child | $15,000 | ||
*For Singaporean children born on or after 18 February 2025.
Find out more about the Baby Bonus Scheme.
LifeSG Credits
Get more financial support for your household expenses. LifeSG Credits can be used at both online and physical stores that accept PayNow UEN QR or NETS QR payments.
Child LifeSG Credits
Receive one-off $500 Child LifeSG Credits as your child’s CDA trustee, accessible through the LifeSG mobile app.
Table caption
Child’s Birth Year | Disbursement Timeline |
Between 2013 and 2024 | July 2025 |
2025 | April 2026 |
Large Family LifeSG Credits
For your third and subsequent Singaporean child, get $1,000 Large Family LifeSG Credits every year. These credits will be given annually, in the years that your child turns one to six.
As your child’s CDA trustee, you will be able to access the credits through the LifeSG mobile app. For eligible children aged 1 to 6 in 2025, you’ll receive this year’s credits in September 2025. In subsequent years, the credits will be disbursed in April.
Large Family MediSave Grant
From 18 February 2025, mothers who welcome their third or subsequent Singaporean child will receive a $5,000 Large Family MediSave Grant. The amount will be deposited into the mother’s CPF MediSave Account and can be used to offset pregnancy and delivery expenses, as well as approved dependants’ medical bills and hospitalisation fees.
Edusave Account/Post-Secondary Education Account (PSEA) Top-Up
Singaporeans aged 13 to 20 in 2025 will receive a one-off top up to their Edusave Account or PSEA. These can be used to pay for approved education-related expenses. The top-ups will be disbursed in July 2025.
Edusave Account/Post-Secondary Education Account (PSEA) Top-Up
Age in 2025 | Date of Birth (inclusive of both dates) | Account Receiving Top-Up | Amount |
13 – 16 | Between 1 Jan 2009 to 31 Dec 2012 | Edusave | $500 |
17 – 20 | Between 1 Jan 2005 to 31 Dec 2008 | PSEA |
Find out more about the Edusave Account/PSEA top-up
Stronger work-life support for parents
More Parental Leave
Enjoy more time with your newborn with up to 30 weeks of paid leave.
Government-Paid Maternity Leave: 16 weeks
Enhanced Government-Paid Paternity Leave (GPPL): 4 weeks, from 1 April 2025
Currently, fathers enjoy 2 weeks of mandatory GPPL, and employers may voluntarily grant an additional 2 weeks
The two weeks of voluntary GPPL will be made mandatory from 1 April 2025
New Shared Parental Leave (SPL) scheme:
6 weeks of SPL shared between both parents, from 1 April 2025
10 weeks of SPL shared between both parents, from 1 April 2026
Find out more about parental leave.
Flexible Work Arrangements (FWAs)
Discuss Flexible Work Arrangements (FWA) with your employer to balance your work and parenting responsibilities.
There are different FWAs that can suit both your needs and the needs of your organisation:
Flexi-place: Work from a different location outside of your office (e.g. work-from-home).
Flexi-time: Have different office hours with no change to total work hours and workload (e.g. flexi-hours, staggered hours, compressed work schedule).
Flexi-load: Take on a different workload and be paid accordingly (e.g. job sharing, part-time work).
The Tripartite Guidelines on FWA Requests (TG-FWAR) sets out:
How employees should request for FWAs and use them responsibly, and
How employers and supervisors should handle FWA requests based on business needs
The TG-FWAR is in effect since 1 December 2024.
Explore Flexible Work Arrangements.
More childcare options
Infant Childminding Services
Consider new infant childminding services for children from two to 18 months old. Under this pilot, the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) will appoint childminding operators, who will engage childminders. These individuals can care for up to three infants at a time, either at their homes or community spaces such as community centres/clubs.
This services aim to be:
Affordable: Parents can expect to pay around $700 a month, and can tap on the Child Development Account to offset fees.
Flexible: Parents can engage childminders on a half-day or full-day basis, and for selected days a week. With up to three infants under their charge, childminders can provide dedicated care to infants and accommodate parents’ caregiving preferences.
Safe: ECDA will conduct background checks on potential childminders before engaging them. Appointed operators must meet service requirements to ensure child safety, and childminders will have to undergo relevant training. ECDA and operators are also working on industry standards to lay out best practices for the safety and well-being of infants.
This three-year pilot aims to eventually cater to 700 infants each year. The pilot has been launched in December 2024.
Learn more about Infant Childminding Services.
More Affordable Preschools
Lower Fees: Maximum fees for full-day childcare reduced to $610 for anchor operator preschools (AOP), and $650 for partner operator preschools (before subsidies). After basic childcare subsidies, a dual-income family will pay about $300 per child, with low- and middle-income families paying less after additional subsidies.
More Spaces: Almost 40,000 new spaces at government-supported preschools to be added from 2025 to 2029, catering to 80% of preschoolers.
Uplifting families in need
ComLink+
Low-income families with children can benefit from ComLink+ support. ComLink+ family coaches work with families to co-develop action plans, as they coach and motivate them towards achieving their goals, and help them navigate social support services. Families can also benefit from ComLink+ Progress Packages in the areas of preschool education, employment, debt clearance and home ownership.
These packages will be progressively rolled out to eligible families from 2024.
ComLink+ Progress Package for Preschool Education
To help eligible families prioritise their children’s preschool education for a strong foundation:
A one-off $500 CDA top-up for each child enrolled in preschool when they turn three
$200 CDA top-ups for every quarter that the child attends preschool regularly (from ages three to six)
ComLink+ Progress Package for Employment
To help eligible families have a stable income and increase their overall household income:
$450 - $550 in a combination of cash and CPF payouts* per quarter of employment, for those in CPF-paying jobs that pay at least $1,600/month.
ComLink+ Progress Package for Financial Stability
To help eligible families achieve financial stability through clearing debt:
Repayment of $1 from donors for every $1 paid to creditors, up to a limit of $5,000 (i.e. donor-matched repayments of up to $2,500).
ComLink+ Progress Package for Home Ownership
To help eligible families save up to buy a flat:
$2 of CPF top-ups for every $1 of voluntary CPF contribution that families make, up to $30,000.*
*Total payouts across Employment and Home Ownership packages capped at $30,000.
ComLink+ will progressively be expanded to support other families that do not live in public rental flats, but have school-going children who are at risk of long-term absenteeism or are eligible for KidSTART.
Fresh Start Housing Scheme
The Fresh Start Housing Scheme helps families with children living in public rental flats to own a 2-room Flexi flat or 3-room flat on a shorter lease.
First-timer families
For families who have not received any housing subsidy, they will be able to:
Purchase a 2-room Flexi or 3-room flat on a shorter lease in HDB sales launches, i.e. Build-To-Order (BTO) or Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) exercises, or open booking of flats
Receive a HDB Concessionary Loan (subject to credit assessment)
Tap on the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant up to $120,000
Second-timer families
For families who have previously received a housing subsidy, they will be able to
Purchase a 2-room Flexi or 3-room flat on a shorter lease in HDB sales launches, i.e. Build-To-Order (BTO) or Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) exercises, or open booking of flats
Receive a HDB Concessionary Loan (subject to credit assessment)
Receive a Fresh Start Housing Grant of $75,000 into their CPF Ordinary Account:
$60,000 before key collection
$15,000 after key collection, disbursed over five years
Have their resale levy capped at $30,000
Find out more about Fresh Start Housing Scheme