Children of Unwed Mothers Excluded from Baby Bonus Cash Gift and Working Mother's Child Relief
Ministry of FinanceSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the exclusion of children of unwed mothers from the Baby Bonus Cash Gift and Working Mother's Child Relief, as raised by Mr Kenneth Tiong Boon Kiat. Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Indranee Rajah reported an average of 745 non-marital live births annually to Singaporean mothers between 2020 and 2024. She explained that these benefits support parenthood within marriage and indicated the government does not track the cost of extension as it is not a matter of funding. Minister Indranee Rajah highlighted that unwed parents still receive developmental supports such as leave provisions, education and healthcare subsidies, and Child Development Account benefits. She added that families needing further help can access financial aid through ComCare and KidSTART or apply for assistance via the SupportGoWhere portal.
Transcript
10 Mr Kenneth Tiong Boon Kiat asked the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (a) how many children of unwed mothers were excluded from Baby Bonus Cash Gift and Working Mother's Child Relief in each of the past five years; (b) what would extending both benefits to these children cost annually; and (c) whether the Ministry has compared this cost against downstream expenditure on alternative support pathways including ComCare, ComLink+, KidSTART, and public housing for these families.
Ms Indranee Rajah: From 2020 to 2024, there were on average, about 745 non-marital live births per year to Singapore Citizen mothers in Singapore.
The Baby Bonus Cash Gift and Working Mother’s Child Relief were designed to encourage parenthood within marriage. Hence, they were not extended to single unwed parents. It is not an issue of cost. Therefore, we do not track how much it would have cost to extend these benefits to unwed parents, nor do we compare this against expenditure on other programmes that may support these families.
Nevertheless, single unwed parents are eligible for Government benefits that support the growth and development of their children. These include leave provisions as well as subsidies for infant care, childcare, education and healthcare. They are also eligible for the Migrant Domestic Worker Levy Concession and the Child Development Account (CDA) benefits, which include the CDA First Step Grant and Government Co-matching.
Single unwed parents who require additional support can apply for financial assistance via the SupportGoWhere portal, and approach family service centres for holistic support, which may include help through programmes like ComCare and KidSTART.