Explain what the Baby Bonus Scheme gives you and how the Child Development Account works.
Government support for parents of a newborn in Singapore comes in several parts. Each part is paid in a different way into a different account. The amounts change from time to time, often in the annual Budget statement, so the reliable approach is to look up each current figure on the official website and write it down with the date you checked it. No amounts are quoted here for that reason.
At Mei's office, someone asks how much the government gives for a baby. A colleague just back from maternity leave gives one figure. Another colleague gives a different figure, which he remembers from his own child five years earlier. A third quotes a number from a news article about a recent Budget. All three are sure they're right, but none of them are talking about the same thing. A figure from a friend, an old article, or even your own first child may be out of date by the time the next child is born.
The Baby Bonus Scheme is the main government support for families with a newborn who is a Singapore citizen. It has two parts: a cash gift and the Child Development Account (CDA).
The cash gift is paid in instalments into the Child Savings Account (CSA), not into a separate bank account the parents nominate. Payments start once the birth is registered and the parents have applied. You can use the money however you see fit. Most parents put it towards everyday child costs, which are set out in Lesson 6.1, What a child costs in the first five years.
The Child Development Account (CDA) is a special savings account opened in the child's name at one of the banks appointed for it. Government money goes into it in two ways. The first is a grant, often called the CDA First Step Grant, which is paid in without any deposit from you. The second is matching: the government adds the same amount you deposit, dollar for dollar, up to a cap. Deposits above the cap are not matched. The cap depends on the child's birth order, and there is a time limit on when deposits can be matched. Check both on the Baby Bonus pages.
CDA money can only be spent at approved institutions for approved purposes. These include childcare and kindergarten fees, medical and dental bills, and some other costs for the child or their siblings. You pay with the CDA card, or you ask the institution to deduct from the account. The money is not locked away until the child grows up. It can pay costs your family would have paid anyway. Lesson 6.3, Use the CDA match without straining the budget, builds on this.
For both parts of the Baby Bonus, the amount depends on the child's birth order, so a first child and a third child may receive different amounts. Both amounts have been changed in past Budgets. Eligibility rules, such as citizenship and the parents' marital status, are set out alongside the amounts. Current figures and conditions are on the Baby Bonus pages of the Made for Families website, madeforfamilies.gov.sg, which is also where you apply.
A newborn Singapore citizen may also receive a MediSave grant, paid into the child's own MediSave account with CPF. It is for the child's healthcare costs, such as MediShield Life premiums and some medical bills. Check the amount and conditions on the CPF Board website and on the Baby Bonus pages.
The grant goes into CPF, not to you, so it does not directly reduce your monthly spending. It does mean some early medical costs and premiums may not need to come out of your budget.
Other support depends on your family's situation. For many working parents, childcare subsidies from ECDA are the largest support of all. Lesson 6.1 covers these. Tax reliefs and rebates for parents, such as Qualifying Child Relief and the Parenthood Tax Rebate, reduce your income tax. The IRAS website lists them. Some employers also offer their own benefits.
Check each of these before you count it. A tax relief only helps if you pay enough tax to use it. A subsidy that depends on working status will change if one parent stops working.
Later, Mei and Daniel open a note called "child support" in their goals sheet. It has five lines: the cash gift, the CDA grant, the matching cap, the MediSave grant and the tax reliefs. Each line has an amount, a link to the source page, and a date.
Set up your own note the same way. For each type of support:
find the current amount on the official website record the amount, the date you checked it, and the conditions that apply to you add a link to the source page confirm it applies to you before you count it, given the tax you pay and your working status
Recheck the figures every six months, and again after each Budget statement, because the Budget is where amounts are most often revised. Yours will start the same way, from the official pages rather than from memory.
Look up today's Baby Bonus cash gift, CDA grant and matching cap. Write each one down with the date you checked.
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