Children up to 6 to get $400 top-up in Child Development Account from mid-September
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The top-up is double the top-up in 2022, and is expected to benefit about 240,000 children.
ST PHOTO: GIN TAY
SINGAPORE - Singaporean children up to six years old will get a one-off top-up of $400 to their Child Development Accounts (CDAs).
The top-up is double the amount distributed in 2022,
The money will be credited directly into the child’s CDA from mid-September, said the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Social and Family Development in a joint statement on Monday.
Parents who have not opened a CDA yet must do so by June 30, 2024, for the children to get the top-up, the statement added.
The CDA top-up is part of measures linked to the Assurance Package rolled out during Budget 2023 to give families more support with the expenses that come with raising children.
CDA funds can be used to pay for a child’s education and healthcare at approved institutions.
These include registered childcare centres, kindergartens, special education schools, providers of early intervention programmes, providers of assistive technology devices, hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and optical shops.
Eligible CDA recipients will be notified through SMS, e-mail or a hard-copy letter after the funds have been credited.
Parents can view the balance by checking the monthly CDA statement.
To guard against scams, SMS notifications sent to eligible CDA recipients will be from the SMS ID “MSF”.
The notification will contain only information on the status of the top-up, after it has been credited into the child’s CDA.
Eligible CDA recipients will not be asked to reply to the SMS, click on any links or provide any information to the sender.
Messages about the top-up will not be sent via WhatsApp or other mobile app messaging platforms.
Singaporean children between the ages of seven and 20 in 2023 would have already received a one-off $300 top-up to their Edusave account or Post-Secondary Education Account in May.
In the last CDA top-up in 2022, about 230,000 children aged up to six received $200 in their CDA.
That top-up was part of the Household Support Package in Budget 2022.
It was aimed at providing families with more support for their child-raising expenses.
In a Facebook post on Monday, Ms Sun Xueling, who is Minister of State for Home Affairs and Social and Family Development, said: “As part of the Assurance Package announced by Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, the CDA top-up aims to provide parents with additional financial support in the child’s early years.
“For parents who have yet to open a CDA for your child, I encourage you to do so by June 30, 2024, to receive the $400 top-up.”
