Starting next month, employers will no longer have to wait until a worker uses up all her maternity leave before being reimbursed. They can make one interim claim of the subsidy any time after a mother has taken half of the 16 weeks of leave she is entitled to. The rest can be claimed after all the remaining leave is taken.

The scheme - which is part of the $1.6billion the Government spends annually to coax people to have more babies - has the Government paying the last eight weeks of the maternity leave for the first two children, and all 16 weeks for the third child onwards.

The change in the payment arrangement is prompted by feedback from employers. They had said it had caused cashflow problems, as it had them waiting up to one year after a birth for the reimbursement.

Announcing the change on Sunday, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, said the new arrangement would make the system fairer to employers.

In the existing scheme, the Government will reimburse businesses only after the mother has taken all the leave. 'That can be as late as 12 months after delivery and in the current circumstances, that's not fair to the companies,' he told reporters after a visit to the Nee Soon South constituency of Ang Mo Kio GRC.

The change, he added, 'is to improve cashflow for the companies because I also want to encourage companies to support women who want to have children and to remember that in both good and tough times, we must continue to be a family- friendly society'.

The move could also allay fears that some employers, notably small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), tend to discriminate against pregnant women.

The existing system was put in place last August when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong unveiled a basket of measures to encourage couples to have children.

The package included a bonanza of tax benefits and paid maternity leave, which was bumped up from 12 weeks to 16 weeks.

Read the full story in Monday's edition of The Straits Times.