New Baby Steps

2013 sees another round of government incentives been rolled out to encourage more married couples to have more children so as to ensure the long term economic viability of Singapore. Baby Bonus Scheme, which was introduced on 1 April 2001, supports parents' decision to have more children by helping to lighten the financial costs of raising children.

It consists of two components

1. A cash gift; and
2. A Child Development Account.

Cash Gift

As part of the Marriage and Parenthood Package 2013, the cash gift quantum for children born on or after 26 August 2012 will be increased and the payment schedule will be revised and shortened. Parents will get a cash gift of up to

• $6,000 each for their 1st and 2nd child; and
• $8,000 each for their 3rd and 4th child.

The cash gift will be disbursed in 3 instalments to help parents defray the new or additional expenses arising from their newborn:

• 1st instalment (50% of the amount) within 3 week after completed forms were received;
• 2nd instalment (25% of the amount) when the child is approximately 6 months of age; and
• 3rd instalment (25% of the amount) when the child is approximately 12 months of age.

Child Development Account (CDA) for children eligible for Baby Bonus

The CDA is a special savings account that the parents can open at any branch of

• OCBC Bank or
• Standard Chartered Bank

for their child who is eligible for CDA. They can save in the CDA any time until 31 December in the year your child turns 12 years of age.

The Government will match the savings dollar-for- dollar in the following month up to the cap of:

• $6,000 each for the first and second child;
• $12,000 each for the third and fourth child ; and
• $18,000 each for the fifth and subsequent child.

The savings in the CDA may be used to pay approved expenses for all the children at Approved Institutions registered with the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) under the Baby Bonus Scheme. These include:

• child care centres licensed by MSF;
• kindergartens and special education schools registered with the Ministry of Education (MOE) or the Council for Private Education (CPE);
• early intervention programmes registered with the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) or the Centre for Enabled Living (CEL);
• healthcare institutions licensed under the Private Hospitals and Medical Clinics (PHMC) Act;
• pharmacies registered with the Health Sciences Authority (HSA);
• optical shops registered with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA); and
• assistive technology devices providers registered with ACRA or known to either the Ministry of Health (MOH) or CEL.
• purchase MediShield or Medisave- approved private integrated plans for all children.