Proportion of Unutilised Child LifeSG Credits Disbursed in July 2025

11 Mr David Hoe asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) what proportion of the 2025 Child LifeSG Credits disbursed in July 2025 has not been utilised to date; and (b) where utilisation is lower than anticipated, whether the Ministry will consider extending the 12-month validity period while expanding outreach efforts to improve awareness.

The Minister of State for Social and Family Development (Mr Goh Pei Ming) (for the Minister for Social and Family Development): As of April 2026, 83% of the Child LifeSG Credits (CLC) disbursed in July 2025 have been utilised.

The Ministry has been issuing reminders to utilise the credits via our social media platforms, as well as via the LifeSG app and SMS messages. We will also send a final reminder to recipients with unused credits in June, before the credits expire in July 2026. As there has been ample notice, there will be no extension.

Mr Speaker: Mr David Hoe.

Mr David Hoe (Jurong East-Bukit Batok): Thank you, Mr Speaker, and I thank the Minister of State for his response. I am heartened to hear the take-up rate. In fact, it is a very good take-up rate. This is also what I observed in my house visits with residents. Against this backdrop, I have two supplementary questions.

First, does the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) have an initial sensing of the reasons for the 17% that have not started utilising the CLC?

My second question is, through my house visits, would MSF also consider expanding the CLC to children beyond 12? This is because parents often tell me that older children, like their teenagers, are at the phase of their life that they happen to eat more and this would also help to manage the household expenses and child-raising costs.

Mr Goh Pei Ming: Mr Speaker, I thank the Member for his two supplementary questions. I will take the second one first.

I would like to highlight that CLC was designed to support our parents with young children with child-rearing costs. We have done public consultations, and we have heard feedback from parents, especially those of younger children, that in those ages, the diapers and the milk powder cost quite a bit more, and therefore the CLC was designed to better support our parents with young children on that front.

Having said so, together with this tranche of CLC, Budget 2025 also announced that there was, and it has already been topped up, a $500 credit to children above 12 years old; those aged 13 to 16, a $500 top-up to their Edusave Account, and aged 17 to 20, to their Post-Secondary Education Account. So, I think that the Government, in that Budget announcement, has tried to do something for all our children and youths.

On the other question on the utilisation rate, I thank the Member for the encouragement. I think is a healthy take-up rate, although there is still some ways to go. We do want the number to be higher, but we also note that there are some months left. I thank the Member for asking the question because this allows us the opportunity to then raise public awareness of the CLC and more importantly, the upcoming expiry.

There are various reasons for the portions yet to be used. In some cases, parents and families are still in the process of utilising it. They have budgeted it. They spread it out over the year, so we still have a couple of months. In some cases, there is inertia. Families leave it until the very last minute to claim and to use. In some cases, families are overseas. Or in some cases, as the Member has pointed out, they may be simply unaware. So, we know the number is healthy but we will want to do more, and we think the final reminder and the various public information announcements are useful in that regard.

I would like to take the opportunity to also share with the House, with Members, that in this year's Budget, we also announced a further tranche of CLC. So, this July, there will be another tranche to all our children of $500. And last month, we have also disbursed the Large Family LifeSG Credits for eligible families.