Families can receive up to $9k in Child Development Account for 2nd Kids
As a part of the Made for Families initiative, the government is looking to provide better support for the families who are having their second child as well as parents who are not eligible for paternity or adoption leave due to their employment arrangement and the new schemes were introduced during the Committee of Supply debates from Prime Minister’s office on 26 February, Friday.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Indranee Rajah mentioned that the government will be doubling the maximum dollar-for-dollar government co-matching of parents’ savings in the Child Development Account (CDA) for the second child, from S$3,000 to S$6,000. This also will allow the $3,000 contribution to each child’s CDA without requiring parents contribution and total government contributions for the second child’s CDA has increased from $6,000 to $9,000.
In all, parents can receive up to S$24,000 in financial support for their second child, including the Baby Bonus Cash Gift, Baby Support Grant, Government contributions to CDA and Medisave Grant for Newborns.
To support working father and adoptive parents who may not be qualified for paternity or adoption leave due to employment arrangement now the government will also introduce two benefits which is
- Government-Paid Paternity Benefit (GPPB)
- Government-Paid Adoption Benefit (GPAB)
According to Indranee, this new benefit is similar to Government Paid Maternity Benefit.
These benefits will apply to parents whose children’s date of birth, estimated date of delivery, or formal intent to adopt is on or after Jan. 1, 2021. Another scheme that is part of the Made for Families initiative includes the Baby Support Grant (BSG). The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) announced in Oct. 2020 that the government will be providing a one-off BSG of S$3,000 for babies born from Oct. 1, 2020 to Sep. 30, 2022.