Singapore
Budget 2025: Singapore boosts support for families with three or more young children
Singapore’s Budget 2025 introduces new measures to support families with three or more children, offering up to S$16,000 in additional financial aid. Key benefits include S$10,000 CDA grants, MediSave support, and LifeSG Credits to ease household expenses.
SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lawrence Wong introduced a series of measures aimed at supporting families with three or more children as part of Singapore’s efforts to encourage higher birth rates.
Announced in his Budget speech on 18 February, these initiatives will provide up to S$16,000 in additional support for each third and subsequent child born on or after this date.
Wong acknowledged the financial challenges that couples with larger families often face, citing growing costs with each additional child.
To address this, the government is rolling out the Large Family Scheme, which includes several key measures aimed at easing the financial burden for parents.
The first component of the scheme is the Child Development Account (CDA) First Step Grant, which will provide S$10,000 for the third, fourth, or subsequent child born from 18 February.
This is an increase from the current S$5,000 available to all Singaporean children.
The funds can be used for pre-school and healthcare expenses for the child and their siblings.
In addition, parents will receive a Large Family MediSave Grant of S$5,000 for each third and subsequent Singaporean child born from 18 February.
The grant will be credited into the mother’s MediSave account, which can be used to offset pregnancy and delivery-related expenses, as well as medical bills for dependants.
This is on top of the S$5,000 MediSave Grant all Singaporean children already receive.
Parents of third and subsequent children will also receive S$1,000 in Large Family LifeSG Credits each year from when the child turns one until the age of six.
These credits can be used to offset various household expenses, including groceries, utilities, and transport bills.
For existing large families with children aged six or below (born between 1 January 2019, and February 17, 2025), the credits will be available until the child turns six.
Encouraging Higher Birth Rates
The new measures are introduced in response to Singapore’s record-low Total Fertility Rate (TFR) of 0.97 in 2023, marking the first time in the country’s history that the TFR has fallen below 1.
The government has previously rolled out other measures, such as the larger Baby Bonus Cash Gift and the new Shared Parental Leave, which will begin on 1 April.
These initiatives are designed to further support families with children and ease the financial burden of raising a family.
One-Off Top-Ups for All Families
In addition to the Large Family Scheme, Wong also announced one-off top-ups for all Singaporean families.
Each child, from newborns to 12 years old, will receive S$500 in Child LifeSG Credits, which can be used to offset household expenses.
Approximately 455,000 children are expected to benefit from these credits, with disbursement scheduled for July 2025 for those aged up to 12 in 2025.
Children born in 2025 will receive their credits in April 2026.
For older children, S$500 top-ups will be provided to each child aged 13 to 16 into their Edusave Account, while those aged 17 to 20 will receive a top-up to their Post-Secondary Education Account.
These top-ups are expected to benefit around 300,000 students and will also be disbursed in July 2025.
