Perks of having a Singaporean baby ✨

Sharing my research after becoming a mother, I realised there are really a lot of help from our government if you are a Singaporean working mother having a Singaporean child. Hope this post will help especially first time parents feel a bit relieved. Please do correct me if i'm wrong with any info and fill me in with more info, i'd be very happy to hear! 🫶🏼 For more detailed information, i have linked the source below each points, feel free to read more about it there!

💟 Maternity & Paternity Leave

As a Singaporean working mother, you will be entitled to 16 weeks of Government-Paid Maternity Leave. You need to be legally married to child's father and have worked at least 3 months continuous before the birth of your child.

Please share with me when did you guys start taking your maternity leave❓

https://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/leave/maternity-leave/eligibility-and-entitlement

As a Singaporean working father, you will be entitled to 2 weeks of paid paternity leave funded by the government. You need to be legally married to child's mother and have worked at least 3 months continuous before the birth of your child.

https://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/leave/paternity-leave

💟 Childcare leave

Singaporean working parents entitled to 6 days of paid childcare leave per year. Child below 7 years old and have worked at least 3 months continuous.

https://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/leave/childcare-leave/eligibility-and-entitlement

💟 Medisave Maternity Package (MMP)

Subsidised hospital bills + subsidised delivery charges. To start your subsidised journey you will have to go to a polyclinic to get a referral letter to KKH/NUH. I chose KKH, and for pre-delivery expenses, up to $900 can be deducted by Medisave. And here's my research on the estimated delivery bill: Singaporean, Normal Vaginal Delivery, usually 2 days stay, ward B2 = $1.4k payable by medisave, no cash payment required. Singaporean, Caesarean Delivery, usually 3 days stay, ward B2 = $2.2k payable by medisave, no cash payment required. Of course different people have different delivery experiences and different medications/procedures used, so this is really just an estimated cost!

https://www.kkh.com.sg/patient-care/Pages/Estimated-Bill-Calculator-Form-Delivery.aspx

💟 Cash Baby Bonus

At birth $3k

6 months old $1.5k

12 months old $1.5k

15 months old $1k

18 months old $1k

2 yo until 6.5yo $400 every 6 months

total $13k

💟 Child Development Account (CDA)

First grant $7k

Maximum Gov co-matching Up to $5k

Total up to $17k

Government co-matching of parents’ savings:

Enjoy dollar-for-dollar matching from the Government when you save into your child’s CDA, up to the Government co-matching cap of 5k.

You can save into and use the CDA at any time before 31 December of the year your child turns 12 years old.

The savings in the account can be used for:

* Fees for registered childcare centres, kindergartens, special education schools and early intervention programmes

* Medical expenses at healthcare institutions such as hospitals and General Practitioner clinics

* Premiums for MediShield Life or MediSave-approved private integrated plans

* Assistive technology devices

* Eye-related products and services at optical shops

* Approved healthcare items at pharmacies

https://www.madeforfamilies.gov.sg/support-measures/raising-your-child/financial-support/baby-bonus-scheme

💟 $4K Medisave Grant for newborns

This grant can help parents defray the costs of their child’s healthcare expenses, such as MediShield Life premiums, and the costs of recommended childhood vaccinations, hospitalisation, and approved outpatient treatments.

https://www.healthhub.sg/a-z/costs-and-financing/marriage_parenthood_scheme

💟 Subsidy for preschool

This section will depends on you and your spouse's monthly income, i'm very thankful for this as it made the infant care fees much more affordable. As i have to return to work once my maternity leave is used up, so baby will be sent to infant care. The monthly school fees for baby is $1406 (a infant care i chose) before government subsidy... It's much more affordable after government subsidy and the balance can be paid with baby's CDA account so there's no monthly cash needed.

https://www.madeforfamilies.gov.sg/support-measures/raising-your-child/preschool/subsidies-for-preschool

Hope these are helpful information for parents out there 🫶🏼

#singaporean #havingababy #pregnant