Supermom Summary
The government has replaced the Baby Bonus and Large Families schemes with a new SG Child Support Package.
- Every Singapore citizen child gets up to S$62,000 in support from birth to age 17, regardless of birth order.
- Exactly how the transition looks depends on your child’s age and how many children you have.
- The switch happens automatically from April 2027, alongside changes to childcare leave, preschool fees, and BTO ballot chances.
At the 2026 National Day Rally on 23 August, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced the new SG Child Support Package, which will replace the Baby Bonus Scheme and Large Families Scheme. The headline number is significant: every Singapore citizen child will receive up to S$62,000 in support from birth to age 17, with the same base amount for every child regardless of birth order.
But if your child is already here, here is where to start.
What the new SG Child Support Package includes
S$10,000 Baby Gift in cash – This replaces the current Baby Bonus Cash Gift and will be paid in two tranches within your child’s first year. The amount is the same for every child.
S$32,000 in Child Credits – Families will receive S$2,000 in cash every year from age one to 16. That means support continues through preschool, primary school and the years of uniforms, enrichment classes, school expenses and shoes that somehow stop fitting overnight.
S$5,000 CDA First Step Grant – The Child Development Account will continue to receive an automatic deposit when your child is born.
Up to S$5,000 in CDA co-matching. The government will match your CDA savings dollar for dollar, up to S$5,000. The account will also remain open until the end of the year your child turns 16, instead of closing at age 12.
S$10,000 PSEA top-up. This will be credited in the year your child turns 17, providing additional support before further education expenses such as polytechnic or university.
Together with the existing S$5,000 MediSave Grant for Newborns and around S$2,500 in Edusave contributions across primary and secondary school, each child will receive almost S$70,000 in total direct support.
Supermom Tip
Under the current system, a first child and a third child can receive different amounts of support. Under the new package, every child gets the same S$62,000 base support.
What happens if your child is already born?
Good news: there is no new application to fill in.
Children currently enrolled in the Baby Bonus Scheme will move to the new package automatically from April 2027. If your child is still receiving Baby Bonus Cash Gift payouts, those will continue until 31 March 2027. Where needed, a top-up will be paid by 30 April 2027 to bring the total cash gift to S$10,000.
Children turning one to 16 in 2026 will receive their first S$2,000 Child Credits payout by 30 April 2027.
For CDA co-matching, existing amounts will stay in place until 30 September 2027. After that, the cap will become S$5,000 per child, regardless of birth order.
If your child is 12 or younger in 2027, their CDA will be extended until age 16. If they are 13 or older, the account will already have closed and transferred to their PSEA under the existing process. Every child will still receive the S$10,000 PSEA top-up when they turn 17.
Childcare leave is also increasing
For many parents, this could be the change that is felt most in everyday life.
Currently, each working parent of a child aged six and below receives six days of paid childcare leave a year. Once the youngest child turns seven, that drops to two days.
Under the new system, both schemes will be combined into one childcare leave structure for parents with children aged 12 and below. The number of days will depend on how many children you have:
- One child: 8 days per working parent
- Two children: 10 days per working parent
- Three or more children: 12 days per working parent
The government will also reimburse employers for the full cost of statutory child-related leave, including maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave. The exact start dates for these changes will be announced later.
Supermom Tip
These leave days are per parent, not per household. So if both parents are working and have two children, that works out to 20 days of childcare leave between them in a year.
Preschool and Infant care fees are coming down
Another major change is the government’s target for preschool fees.
Full-day childcare fees at government-supported preschools are expected to fall to S$150 a month, down from close to S$600 today. Infant care fees are targeted at S$300 a month.
Both amounts are before means-testing, which means lower-income families can continue to receive additional subsidies and pay less.
For many families, this could make a real difference to the monthly childcare bill. Preschool is one of the biggest recurring expenses during the early years, so bringing fees closer to S$150 a month could take a noticeable amount of pressure off the family budget. The reductions will be rolled out progressively from 2028, with the target levels expected by 2030.
Full childcare and infant care subsidies will also be extended to families with Singapore citizen children regardless of whether the applying parent is working. This removes an existing barrier for stay-at-home parents, with more details on implementation expected in early 2027.
Extra support for families with three or more children
Families with three or more children will continue to receive additional support on top of the new base package. The existing S$5,000 Large Family MediSave Grant is being reviewed for how it can be repositioned and extended, alongside further transport and housing support for larger families.
Some existing benefits will be discontinued. These include the additional S$5,000 CDA First Step Grant and S$6,000 Large Family LifeSG Credits, as the new system moves towards giving every child the same base level of support.
In other words, some of the older birth-order-based benefits are going away, but the overall structure is becoming more standardised across families.
More BTO ballot chances for families with children
There is a housing update worth noting too.
From the February 2027 sales exercise, first-timer families with or expecting children will receive one additional ballot chance for every Singapore citizen child aged 18 and below.
This will apply to both BTO and Sale of Balance Flats applications. So, for example, a family with two young children would receive two additional ballot chances. In a competitive BTO exercise, every extra chance can matter.
What you actually need to do now
For most parents, not much.
The transition will happen automatically, and most of the major changes will only take effect from April 2027. If your baby arrives before then, they will still be enrolled under the current Baby Bonus Scheme before transitioning to the new package, with any relevant top-up applied.
One area worth checking is your child’s CDA. Existing co-matching amounts remain in place until 30 September 2027, so parents of a third or later child may want to review whether it makes sense to contribute before the new S$5,000 cap takes effect.
Other decisions, such as delivery costs, insurance and confinement care, will continue on their own timelines and are still worth planning separately.
FAQ
What is the SG Child Support Package?
It is a new scheme announced at NDR 2026 that provides up to S$62,000 per Singapore citizen child from birth to age 17, replacing the Baby Bonus and Large Families schemes.
When does it start?
From April 2027, with existing families transitioned automatically.
Does birth order still matter?
No. Every child receives the same S$62,000 base support.
Will I still get the Baby Bonus if my baby arrives before April 2027?
Yes. Baby Bonus Cash Gift payouts will continue until 31 March 2027, with a top-up to S$10,000 by 30 April 2027 if needed.
How much childcare leave will I get?
8 days for one child, 10 days for two children and 12 days for three or more children, per working parent.
When will preschool fees drop to S$150 a month?
The reductions will begin progressively from 2028, with the target level expected by 2030.
The bottom line for your family
There will be more detailed guidelines to read when they are published in early 2027, particularly around exact transition dates and implementation.
But the broad picture is already much clearer: every child receives the same base level of support, and that support is spread across more of the years when families are actually raising them.
It will not make school fees disappear, or stop shoes from wearing out every few months. But a simpler system, with support that arrives more consistently, is one less thing to figure out in a season already full of decisions.
