Parliamentary Reply by Minister Indranee Rajah on Extending Benefits to Unwed Parents

FIFTEENTH PARLIAMENT OF SINGAPORE

WRITTEN REPLY

THURSDAY, 26 FEBRUARY 2026

Mr Kenneth Tiong Boon Kiat:

To ask 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.