Higher childcare subsidies and tax relief to support more babies.
By
Lee Siew Hua
Singapore is introducing new and enhanced package of measures to boost births and support parents. -- ST PHOTO: ALBERT SIM
FROM January next year, working mothers will get double the amount of monthly subsidies at childcare centres, from $150 to $300. At infantcare centres, their subsidies will also go up, from $400 to $600 a month.
These subsidies are among the new and enhanced package of measures Singapore is introducing to boost births and support parents, an issue that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong highlighted at Sunday's National Day Rally.
Details of the raft of measures were announced on Wednesday by Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng, the minister in charge of population issues.
It will cost the Government $1.6 billion - double the budget of the current parenthood and marriage package - and will benefit a wide spectrum of the population with the idea of creating a 'family-family' Singapore, he told the media.
'We need a society that looks upon marriage as something important, something useful in their lives and and to have children is something joyful to have and as a result, they want to have more children,' said Mr Wong.
Besides subsidies, the perks includes tax reliefs, grants and rebates for parents, mums-to-be as well as employers.
Among the new offerings are:
1. Tax relief: Child tax relief for parents will extend beyond the fourth child. Also, for each child, parents can claim for $4,000, instead of $2,000. The tax relief for a handicapped child has also gone up to $5,500, from $3,500.
The proportion of tax relief that working mums can claim has also risen: They can claim 15 per cent for first child instead of 5 per cent, 20 per cent for second child (15 per cent); 25 per cent for third child and others (20 per cent for third and 25 per cent for 4th child) .
The total amount parents can claim year for each child has been doubled to $50,000, from $25,000.
In all, the various tax reliefs, including what already exists, can mean up to 16 tax-free years for a double-income couple making $50,000 and have three children.
2. Baby Bonus Parents will also receive a bigger baby bonus: $4,000 for first and second child instead of $3,000. The government will also contribute to the Children Development Account (CDA) of the first and firth child onwards. Previously, there was nothing for these children.
From January 1 2009, it will match savings dollar for dollar the savings in the CDA up to $6,000. For the 5th child onwards, it will contribute up to $18,000.
3. Leave for parents Leave for mothers and fathers will be more generous.
Paid maternity leave will go up from 12 to 16 weeks for mothers of Singaporean children born from Jan 1 next year. The last eight weeks can be taken flexibly over 12 months from the child's birth.
Unpaid infant care leave has been introduced, giving each parent six days of leave a year when the child is younger than two years old.
In addition, paid childcare leave has been extended from two to six days a year for each parent when the child is below age six.
4. Protection for pregnant women Greater protection will be given to pregnant women at work. They will get maternity leave benefits, if fired without good cause within the last six months of pregnancy. These benefits will also be given if she is laid off in the last three months of her pregnancy.
5. Co-funding of in-vitro fertilisation treatment In a turnaround, the Government will from next month co-pay fertility treatments for women under age 40 but the treatment must be at public hospitals. Couples can receive 50 per cent funding - up to $3,000 - for each cycle of Assisted Reproduction Technology (ART) treatments, for a maximum of three cycles.
Even as the Government make these offering to Singaporeans, Mr Wong stressed that 'getting married and having children is a very personal matter'.
He said: 'Singaporeans have to decide when to take that step but what the government can do is to create a more family-friendly environment so that Singaporeans will find it more conducive to have children, to get married and have children.'
