National Day Rally 2026: Helping Singaporeans Start and Raise Families with Confidence

As announced by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong at the 2026 National Day Rally on 23 August, the Government will enhance child-related leave, financial support, caregiving options and housing measures to better support Singaporean families. 

This page summarises the latest Marriage and Parenthood (M&P) enhancements for parents and families. 

At a glance 

• More Childcare Leave for working parents with children aged 12 and below.

• Stronger financial support through the new SG Child Support Package, with up to $62,000 per Singapore Citizen child from birth to age 17.

• Additional help for large families with three or more children. 

• More affordable and accessible caregiving options through the preschool and primary school years.

• Stronger housing support for growing families.   

1. More protected time for parents to balance family and work

Childcare Leave (CCL) will be increased to give working parents more protected time to care for their children. 

The current CCL and Extended Childcare Leave (ECL)* schemes will be merged into a streamlined CCL scheme for working parents with children aged 12 and below: 

*Today, a working parent whose youngest Singapore Citizen (SC) child is aged 6 years and below has 6 days of CCL a year. A working parent whose youngest SC child is aged 7 to 12 has 2 days of ECL a year. 

Government to cover the cost of child-related leave 

To reduce the financial costs borne by employers, the Government will cover the cost for all child-related leave, i.e. GPML, GPAL, GPPL, SPL and CCL for all child orders, up to the reimbursement limit.

This reduces the costs for employers and supports them in building work-life friendly workplaces where parents can take leave with greater confidence. Employees are encouraged to discuss leave plans with their employers early where possible, so that caregiving needs and workplace operations can be managed well.  

This will also apply to eligible Self-Employed Persons (SEPs), who can currently claim compensation for income lost during the Government-paid portion of respective child-related leave schemes.

More details, including the start date of the new CCL scheme, will be announced later. 

 For more information on the current leave schemes, please refer to the Childcare Leave (GPCL) and Extended Childcare Leave (ECL) page (opens in new tab) and the Government-Paid Leave (GPL) Portal (opens in new tab) . 

2. Stronger and more sustained financial support through a child’s growing years 

The Baby Bonus and Large Families schemes will be replaced by the new SG Child Support Package, providing up to $62,000 per Singapore Citizen child from birth to age 17, regardless of birth order. All birth orders (BOs) will receive more support under the SG Child Support Package, which comprises: 

•  $10,000 Baby Gift in cash, disbursed in two tranches within 12 months of a child’s birth. This provides more substantial upfront help with the higher expenses incurred at birth and in the child’s first year. 

• $32,000 Child Credits in cash, with $2,000 disbursed annually over 16 years, from the year the child turns 1 to the year the child turns 16. This provides sustained help through the child’s growing years. 

• $5,000 Child Development Account (CDA) First Step Grant (FSG). 

• Up to $5,000 in Government co-matching of CDA. The CDA will be extended to the end of year the child turns 16, instead of 12 years old today, giving parents a longer period to benefit from Government co-matching and use CDA funds for approved child-raising expenses. 

• $10,000 top-up to the child’s Post-Secondary Education Account (PSEA) in the year the child turns 17. This will help parents by defraying the costs of higher education.  

Together with the existing benefits – including the $5,000 Medisave Grant for Newborns at birth and annual Edusave contributions across primary and secondary school, which add up to around $2,500 – each Singapore Citizen child receives around $70,000 of direct financial support from birth to age 17, illustrated in the table below:

Find out more about the new SG Child Support Package at: go.gov.sg/sgchildsupportpackage (opens in new tab)   
Find out more about the existing Baby Bonus Scheme at: Baby Bonus Scheme | LifeSG – Benefits and support (opens in new tab)  

3. Additional help for large families 

Large families with three or more children will continue to receive additional help on top of the SG Child Support Package in areas where they are likely to face higher costs:  

• The current $5,000 Large Family MediSave Grant (LFMG) helps with healthcare expenses. We are studying how to reposition and extend this support to existing large families that have not received the grant.  

• MOT will provide additional support to help large families manage transport expenses.  

• MND is studying additional housing support for large families.  

Find out more about the existing Large Families Scheme at: Large Families Scheme | Family planning – LifeSG (opens in new tab)  

4. More affordable and accessible caregiving options through the preschool and primary school years and primary school years 

Affordability and accessibility of childcare and infant care for Singapore Citizen (SC) children will be further enhanced by: 

• Significantly reducing fees for Government-supported preschools: Full-day childcare and infant care fees will be reduced to $150 and $300 per month, respectively, before means-testing. Fees will be less than half of today’s fees and reductions will be rolled out progressively from 2028, with target levels reached by 2030. More details on implementation timelines will be shared in early 2027.

• Extending full preschool subsidies to families with SC children, regardless of the working status of the main applicant: Full childcare and infant care subsidies will be extended to families with SC children, ensuring all families can access affordable and quality preschool, regardless of their employment circumstances. More details will be announced in early 2027. 

• Expanding the network of Government-supported preschool operators: To ensure more families have access to affordable, quality preschool, the Government will expand the network of Government-supported preschool operators, and further expand the infant educator workforce to meet growing demand. The Government will provide support to facilitate eligible operators' transition onto the expanded Government-supported network.  

• More details on the implementation of these measures will be announced at a later date.  

5. Stronger housing support for growing families 

From February 2027 sales exercise, first-timer families with or expecting children will receive one additional ballot chance for each Singapore Citizen child aged 18 and below. This will apply to all BTO and SBF flat applications.  

Please visit HDB website for more information. 

Marriage & Parenthood Reset Workgroup 

These enhancements are the first set of recommendations from the Marriage & Parenthood (M&P) Reset Workgroup accepted by the Government. Shaped by feedback from Singaporeans, they respond to practical concerns that parents have shared — including the need for more time for caregiving, help with child-raising costs, more affordable preschool, and housing support as families grow. The Workgroup will continue its engagements and set out a fuller set of recommendations in its report in early 2027. 

Click here [PDF, 1.19 MB] (opens in new tab) for a quick overview of the NDR 2026 M&P announcements.