Parliamentary Reply by Minister Indranee Rajah on Impact Study of BBS and Leave Enhancements

FIFTEENTH PARLIAMENT OF SINGAPORE

WRITTEN REPLY

WEDNESDAY, 25 FEBRUARY 2026

Mr Cai Yinzhou:

To ask the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance whether an assessment has been conducted on the impact of the Baby Bonus and parental leave enhancements which were implemented in 2023 and 2025, respectively, on the fertility rate.

Ms Indranee Rajah:

It is difficult to discern the impact of any single policy on our fertility rate as the measures in our Marriage and Parenthood (M&P) package are intended to work in combination to support Singaporeans in their M&P journey.

From our surveys and engagements, we have found that the Baby Bonus Scheme and parental leave enhancements have been positively received. For example, parents and young couples shared that the parental leave enhancements would encourage more people to have children. Parents also perceived the increased financial support and time spent with their newborns to be helpful in their parenthood journey.

We regularly monitor the efficacy of our measures and will continue to review our M&P package to better support parents in starting and raising families.