Budget 2025: Will the new Large Families Scheme spur more couples to have a third child or more?

Many older Singaporeans would remember the famous 1970s family planning slogan "Girl or boy, two is enough."

- Theresa Tan

Almost 40 years after the campaign to get couples to stop at two children ended, successive generations of Singaporeans have somehow taken this slogan to heart – but perhaps for different reasons.

While financial considerations might have been a key factor for couples in the stop-at-two era in deciding how many children to have, many of today's parents are a lot more concerned about being able to give their best – in terms of their time, money and other resources – to theirs.

So fewer (children) means more (for each child).

And two-child families are the norm in Singapore.

The latest Department of Statistics data shows that the largest group of women at the end of their child-bearing years have two children – a trend that has held steady for at least the past 20 years.

Some 41.8 per cent of resident women aged between 40 and 49 who have ever been married had two children in 2024.

So will the new Large Families Scheme, which was announced by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in his Budget speech on Feb 18, spur more couples to have baby No. 3 or more?

PM Wong said: "Couples with more children often worry about additional costs because the demands grow with each additional child.

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

For the third and subsequent Singaporean child born on or after Feb 18, families on the Large Families Scheme will get:

• $10,000 in their Child Development Account First Step Grant, which can be used to pay for pre-school and healthcare expenses. Currently, all Singaporean children, regardless of birth order, get $5,000 through this grant.