Update on Review to Extend Working Mother's Child Relief and Parenthood Tax Rebate to Single Unwed Parents

1 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Finance (a) whether the Ministry can provide an update on the findings of its review to extend the Working Mother’s Child Relief to single unwed parents; and (b) if the review has not been completed, when will it be available.

2 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Finance (a) whether the Ministry can provide an update on the findings of its review to extend the Parenthood Tax Rebate to single unwed parents; and (b) if the review has not been completed, when will the results of the review be available.

The Second Minister for Finance (Ms Indranee Rajah) (for the Minister for Finance): Mr Speaker, may I have your permission to answer Question Nos 1 and 2 together, please?

Mr Speaker: Please do.

Ms Indranee Rajah: Mr Louis Ng had asked a similar question at the Committee of Supply in 2020. As MOF explained then, all Singaporean children receive substantial benefits that support their growth and development from the Government, regardless of their parents’ marital status. These include: (a) Child Development Account benefits, including the $3,000 First Step Grant and matched co-savings from Government; (b) $4,000 in MediSave Grant for Newborns; (c) MediShield Life coverage from birth; (d) over $180,000 of education subsidies by the time they turn 16 years old, including pre-school subsidies; and (e) Government healthcare subsidies.

Working mothers, regardless of their marital status, are also entitled to: (a) 16 weeks of Government-Paid Maternity Leave; (b) six days paid Child Care Leave per year for children aged below seven years, or two days for children aged seven to 12; and (c) concessionary Migrant Domestic Worker Levy.

In this way, we support all parents, including unwed working mothers, to give their children education opportunities and good healthcare, so they can realise their fullest potential in life.

The Working Mother’s Child Relief and Parenthood Tax Rebate were instituted to encourage women to continue working after their marriage and childbirth, and to support parenthood within marriage and should be seen in that context. These policies also reflect the prevailing societal norm and values in Singapore.

The Government will continue to work with our community partners to support vulnerable single parents. Those in need of assistance can approach their nearest Social Service Office.

Mr Speaker: Mr Louis Ng.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang (Nee Soon): Thank you, Sir, and I thank the Second Minister for the reply. Could I just check if a single unwed mother gets married to the father of the child, subsequently gets a divorce, will she then qualify for the Parenthood Tax Rebate and the Working Mother's Child Relief?

Second, I am just hoping again. I have raised this quite a few times now, but I am hoping that MOF looks at this not just from a tax dollar perspective, but from the perspective of whether our policies can result in a more inclusive society. The Minister and I were at the dialogue with single unweds, where they spoke in tears about the stigma they face. So, I hope again that we can change our policies. When the Minister was a backbencher, here, in this House, 16 years ago, she spoke about the concerns, about how single unwed mothers do not feel like they are included in our society.

I hope MOF will review this again and include single unwed mothers and father in our Parenthood Tax rebate and the Working Mother's Child Relief for the mothers.

Ms Indranee Rajah: Mr Speaker, I thank the Member for his clarification or supplementary questions and I commend him for his concern for vulnerable single mothers. I would say this: we too are committed to supporting single mothers. In terms of specific tax measures and how they operate, it is important to remember that certain tax measures were designed originally with a certain social objective. We must be careful not to just transplant or think that a measure that is for one social objective can just be transplanted or extended to meet another social objective.

I think what I can say is this: we will do our best to ensure that single mothers are supported. I am happy to note that the situation now is, in fact, much better than it was 16 years ago when I spoke about this. And we will continue to make it better for them, without, hopefully, distorting the lines too much in terms of where our society feels comfortable in terms of societal values.

I think the takeaway the Member should have is that we will not forget single mothers, working or otherwise. We will make sure that the child is definitely given every opportunity to be supported and we will support the mothers as well.

The specific question that the Member had about the application of the measures, I will check that and we will respond to him. I just want to make sure that the response that is given is accurate.