Mum and Dads to Enjoy More Parental Leave Beginning April 2025 - November 2024

The Singaporean government has announced more parental leave days at the recent 2024 National Day Rally. This recent upgrade will be an addition to the already existing measures outlined from Budget 2023 and 2024 meant to help tackle the country's declining population. Here's an updated refresher on Singapore's current family-friendly measures. Work Arrangements As mentioned, parents now enjoy 10 extra weeks of parental leaving bringing the total to 30 weeks. This will be implemented in two phases starting from April 1, 2025. This extra leave does not impact the 16 weeks of maternity leave currently allocated to mothers. Dads are also enjoying more voluntary paternity leave since January 1, 2024 bringing the total to 4 weeks. Employers must now make the first two weeks mandatory for dads as long as they have been working there for at least three months before the child's birth. Beginning December 2024, parents can also apply for flexible work arrangements. Employers must also extend unpaid infant care leave from 6 to 12 days per parent annually during the child’s first two years. Monetary Benefits Parents will now receive an extra $3000 as part of their Baby Bonus cash gift. For first child and second child ($11,000), and for third and subsequent children ($13,000). The Child Development Account (CDA) First Step Grant was increased from $3,000 to $5,000 for all children born from February 14, 2023. which helps parents offset pre-school and healthcare costs, . Additionally, the co-matching cap for the CDA has been raised by $1,000 for the first and second child, allowing parents to receive dollar-for-dollar matching from the Government up to $4,000 and $7,000, respectively. Medical Care From birth, Singaporean babies automatically receive a MediSave account with a $4,000 grant. This covers free childhood vaccinations and developmental check-ups. Since January 1, 2020, eligible couples undergoing assisted conception procedures at public centres receive up to 75% co-funding from the Government, subject to a dollar cap. Since July 2022, this co-funding has also been extended to preimplantation genetic testing for monogenic or single-gene defects and chromosomal structural rearrangements at approved providers. Housing A new priority category for first-time families with Singaporean children under 18 years of age, and married couples aged 40 and below, was introduced in the August 2023 Build-To-Order (BTO) exercise. This group receives an additional ballot chance when applying for a new Housing Board flat, on top of the two chances already given to first-time families. Since August 2022, at least 85% of three-room BTO flats in non-mature estates, 95% of four-room and larger BTO flats in non-mature estates, and 95% of three-room and larger BTO flats in mature estates have been reserved for first-timer families. HDB plans to launch approximately 19,600 BTO flats in 2024, following the 24,447 flats launched in 2023. The goal is to offer 100,000 flats from 2021 to 2025. In July 2024, HDB introduced the Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme (Open Market) Voucher scheme, providing temporary financial support to young couples and families renting from the open market while awaiting their new flats. Eligible families will receive $300 per month as reimbursement for each complete month of tenancy between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025. Children's Education To make pre-school more affordable, the fee cap for full-day childcare will be reduced by $40 a month to $640 at the five anchor operators, and to $680 at 28 partner operators in 2025. Further reductions are planned for 2026, aiming to align these fees with those of primary school and student care. The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) also plans to increase centre-based infant care places by approximately 70%, adding 9,000 more spots by 2030. Additionally, a pilot programme for infant childminding services will be introduced as an alternative support option for infant caregiving. Government-supported pre-school places are being expanded. A target for 80% of pre-schoolers to be enrolled in these pre-schools by 2025, up from over 65% currently. This expansion includes more places provided by partner and anchor operators, along with a select number of Ministry of Education kindergartens. For more insightful stories and parenting advice, stay tuned to Mamahood Singapore!

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