During the Budget 2023 speech on Tuesday (14 Feb), Finance Minister Lawrence Wong announced a S$3,000 increase in Baby Bonus Cash Gift.
For babies born from 14 Feb, parents will receive S$11,000 Baby Bonus for their first and second child, and S$13,000 for their third child and beyond.
Source: Khoa Pham on Unsplash. For illustration purposes only.
The one-off Baby Support Grant of S$3,000 will also be extended for children born between 1 Oct 2022 and 13 Feb 2023.
All lawfully married parents whose child is a Singapore citizen are eligible for the Baby Bonus Gift.
Currently, eligible parents get S$8,000 Baby Bonus for their first and second child. For their third child onwards, they receive S$10,000.
For babies born from 14 Feb, the Baby Bonus Cash Gift will increase by S$3,000.
This means parents will receive S$11,000 for their first and second child, and S$13,000 for their third child and beyond.
The current payout schedule will also be adjusted.
Previously, the cash is disbursed over five instalments over the first 18 months after the child is born.
With the adjustments, parents having their first and second child will receive the first S$7,000 in the first 18 months. Meanwhile, those having their third child will receive S$9,000 over the same period.
Source: MCI Singapore on YouTube
Parents will then receive the remaining amount in tranches of S$400 every six months until the child turns six-and-a-half years old.
During his Budget 2023 speech, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said this will allow parents to get continuous support until their child enters primary school.
This enhanced Baby Bonus Cash Gift will be disbursed from early 2024.
Mr Wong said the government has something to help in all married couples’ parenthood journey. Parents who have children born earlier will not be left out.
Source: MCI Singapore on YouTube
For babies born from 1 Oct 2022 to 13 Feb 2023, the government will extend the one-off S$3,000 Baby Support Grant to them.
This will be disbursed in the second half of 2023, reported Channel NewsAsia (CNA).
The grant was first introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic and was previously applicable to parents of children born from 1 Oct 2020 to 30 Sep 2022.
This was implemented to encourage couples to proceed with parenthood plans through the pandemic.
Mr Wong announced that the Child Development Account (CDA) First Step Grant will also be increased from S$3,000 to S$5,000.
The CDA can be used to pay for a child’s education and healthcare needs.
In tandem with this, the co-matching cap for children who are the first or second child will be increased by S$1,000. This brings it to S$4,000 and S$7,000 respectively.
The third and fourth children will continue receiving up to S$9,000 in matching funds.
As for the fifth child and subsequent children, they will continue getting up to S$15,000.
To get the matching amount, parents will have to deposit funds in their child’s CDA.
According to CNA, these changes will apply to children born from 14 Feb.
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Featured image adapted from Khoa Pham on Unsplash and is for illustration purposes only.
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