Benefits for families with three or more young children

Couples will get up to $16,000 in additional support for each third and subsequent child

- Theresa Tan

Families with three or more young children will get more financial benefits and support as part of new measures to encourage Singaporeans to have more children.

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced in his Budget speech on Feb 18 a slew of measures for large families, which will get up to $16,000 in additional support for each third and subsequent child born on or after Feb 18.

"Couples with more children often worry about additional costs because the demands grow with each additional child," he said.

"We will introduce a Large Families Scheme to support married couples who have, or aspire to have, three or more children."

The first part of the new scheme is the Child Development Account (CDA) First Step Grant, where baby number three, four or more born from Feb 18 can get $10,000, up from the current $5,000 all Singaporean children receive.

The funds can be used by parents for pre-school and healthcare expenses incurred by the child or his or her siblings.

Parents will also get $5,000 with the Large Family MediSave Grant for each third and subsequent Singaporean child born from Feb 18. This will be credited into the mother's MediSave account, which can be used to offset pregnancy and delivery-related expenses, as well as approved dependants' medical bills.

This is on top of the $5,000 MediSave Grant that all Singaporean children already get when they are born.