Having a baby isn’t cheap – that much is obvious! Between the cost of delivery, diapers, and infant care or childcare, those expenses can quickly add up.
With this in mind, you’ll want to make full use of all the childcare-related subsidies you’re entitled to. Read on to find out more.
Overview of subsidies
As a parent, here are some subsidies that you may be eligible for:
- Baby Bonus: Cash Gift, Child Development Account, Baby Support Grant
- Working mother subsidy: Basic childcare subsidy
- Working mother subsidy: Additional childcare subsidy
Baby Bonus: Cash Gift, Child Development Account, Baby Support Grant
Perhaps the most widely-known subsidy of them all is the Baby Bonus. Most folks are thinking of the lump sum of money that’s disbursed when they refer to “Baby Bonus”, but the Baby Bonus actually comprises of multiple components: there’s the Cash Gift and Child Development Account (CDA), plus a Baby Support Grant for eligible parents.
Here’s what you need to know about the Baby Bonus:
- All Singaporean citizens are eligible for this scheme
- You may apply for this up to eight weeks before your child’s birth, via MSF’s website
- The Cash Gift is disbursed over 18 months after applying for it
The Cash Gift is disbursed as such:
| First and second births | Third or subsequent births | |
| Within 7 to 10 working days from birth registration or joining the scheme, whichever is later | $3,000 | $4,000 |
| When the child turns 6 months old | $1,500 | $2,000 |
| When the child turns 12 months old | $1,500 | $2,000 |
| When the child turns 15 months old | $1,000 | $1,000 |
| When the child turns 18 months old | $1,000 | $1,000 |
| Total | $8,000 | $10,000 |
➡️ Related Read: Difference Between Baby Bonus and CDA
For more information on the Baby Bonus Cash Gift, visit here.
Child Development Account
As for the CDA, this is a savings account to help parents set aside funds for their child’s education and health expenses. More details below:
- Assuming you’re eligible for the Baby Bonus, your child will automatically get a S$3,000 grant transferred into a savings account for them
- Parents will need to choose between DBS, POSB, OCBC and UOB for the CDA account
- Parents may contribute to the account, and the government will match every S$1
- The government’s contributions are capped from S$3,000 to S$15,000, depending on how many children you have in total
- The matching will be done up till your child turns 12 years old
Here’s how much you can potentially receive under the CDA:
| Grant | First child | Second child | Third and fourth child | Fifth or subsequent child |
| Initial grant | S$3,000 | S$3,000 | S$3,000 | S$3,000 |
| Maximum government matching amount | S$3,000 | S$6,000 | S$9,000 | S$15,000 |
| Total amount of support received | S$6,000 | S$9,000 | S$12,000 | S$18,000 |
Regardless of which bank you choose for your child’s CDA account, you should receive a monthly statement detailing all CDA transactions. You may also log onto Singpass to view the statement.
Baby Support Grant
Finally, if your child was conceived between 1 October 2020 and 30 September 2022 and you’re a Singapore citizen, you’ll be eligible for the Baby Support Grant as well.
This is fairly straightforward; it’s a one-off payment of S$3,000 to help cushion parents from the economic effects of the pandemic.
As the Baby Support Grant is under the Baby Bonus scheme, you do not need to submit a separate application. Simply apply for the Baby Bonus, and if eligible, you’ll receive the Baby Support Grant in your child’s CDA account.
Working mother subsidy: Basic Childcare Subsidy
If you’re a Singapore citizen, and your child is enrolled in an ECDA-licensed childcare centre, your child will be eligible for the Basic Childcare Subsidy.
Here’s how much subsidy your child will be entitled to:
| Working applicant | Non-working applicant | |
| Infantcare (2 – 18 months) | $600 | $150 |
| Childcare (18 months – 6 years) | $300 | $150 |
To apply, you’ll need to complete a form and submit it to ECDA through the childcare centre. If successful, the subsidy will be disbursed directly to the centre.
Additional childcare subsidy
With the Additional Childcare Subsidy, eligibility requirements are stricter: this is only available to applicants who are working and whose gross monthly household income is S$12,000 and below (or per capita income is S$3,000 and below).
In the event that your child is eligible, this is how much you can expect to receive:
| Working applicant | |
| Infantcare (2 – 18 months) | Up to $710 |
| Childcare (18 months – 6 years) | Up to $467 |
Application is done together with the Basic Childcare Subsidy, so you’ll only need to fill out that one form.
A final word on infant care and childcare subsidies
With the cost of living being as high as it is in Singapore, these subsidies will not completely offset the cost of having children by any means. However, they do help to put a dent in things – and the way we see it, every bit counts.
Want to learn more about the cost of raising children, so that you can plan your finances and be prepared? Check out our articles on preparing for the cost of preschool education, and the cost of a live-in domestic helper in Singapore.
By Cherie Foo.
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