Parents with three or more young children in Singapore are set to receive a boost from the government. From September 10, they will get S$1,000 in LifeSG credits for each of their third and any following child. This is part of a wider effort to support large families in the country.
The credits are for Singaporean children who are between one and six years old this year. Each eligible child will receive S$1,000 every year until they turn six. This initiative was first announced by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong as part of the new Large Families Scheme.
The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) announced that the first payments will begin on September 10. This is for families with a third or later child born between January 1, 2019, and December 31, 2024. After this initial payout, the money will be disbursed every April, with the next one scheduled for April 2026.
The credits will be automatically added to the Child Development Account (CDA) of the eligible child. The parent who manages the account will be able to access the funds through the LifeSG app. The MSF also mentioned that parents will get a text message when the money has been credited. To protect against scams, they noted that “SMS notifications sent to parents will only be from ‘gov.sg’.”
These LifeSG credits can be used for various household expenses, such as groceries, medicine, utilities, and transport. The credits can be used at any merchant that accepts payment via PayNow UEN QR or NETS QR.
The S$1,000 in LifeSG credits is just one part of the support package. Eligible parents with three or more young children can also get an S$5,000 Large Family MediSave grant. This money is given to the mother’s MediSave account and can be used for her pregnancy and delivery costs or for her family’s healthcare expenses.
The government expects this new scheme to cost around S$80 million each year. Besides these government grants, the MSF said that some businesses are also offering deals and discounts for large families on things like daily essentials, diapers, furniture, and family-friendly activities.
