NDR support measures give parents more money and time; workplace culture the next challenge

She has heard colleagues who take such leave being questioned with remarks like: “Your maternity leave is already so long, you still want to take childcare leave? Can’t your husband take care of the kid?”

Jurong East-Bukit Batok GRC MP David Hoe, who had called for more childcare leave in Parliament in February, welcomed the move but said sectors with a higher proportion of working parents will need to adjust to the new scheme.

For example, pre-school educators who are parents themselves need to feel supported in taking such leave. This requires understanding from employers, colleagues and parents of pre-schoolers, said Hoe, who has two children aged four and one.

Chua Yeow Hwee, an economics professor at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), said workplace culture should be the next priority.

Government reimbursement addresses the direct wage cost to employers, but the next challenge is helping workplaces manage absences, he said.

“That means better cover arrangements, genuine flexibility over when and where work is done, managers who do not penalise parents for using statutory benefits, and stronger norms around fathers taking on caregiving responsibilities as well,” said Chua.

Generous financial benefits would have limited effects if young people believe that having children will impose a lasting career penalty, especially on mothers, he added.

Charmaine Tan, 42, was laid off from her job as the head of transaction sales at a real estate company, just two weeks after returning from maternity leave in January 2023. She had been with the firm for more than three years.

While she saw the layoff as a blessing that gave her more time with her newborn, Tan said she recognises that being retrenched after maternity leave could feel like a punishment for other mothers.

After conceiving her second child six months later, she decided that finding another full-time job was not an option.

“If we could survive with one income while I’m home with the kids, we’d make that shift,” said Tan, whose children are now aged four and three.

With both children now in full-day pre-school, she could return to full-time work. But Tan wants to focus on expanding her non-profit for underserved youth, which she started two years ago.

She said she is happy to do part-time work that offers flexibility, rather than take up job roles that require frequent travelling.

“The thought of juggling travel schedules with my husband’s travels, and rushing between work and errands while being present for my toddlers is not ideal. It’s also not about the physical presence but the mental and emotional connection with my kids,” said Tan.

Will the measures help raise the TFR?

Parents said the financial payouts will help them beyond the initial costs of childbirth, recognising that support should follow children into their growing years.

The SG Child Support Package includes a $10,000 Baby Gift, and $32,000 in Child Credits, which comes in $2,000 cash payouts annually for 16 years.

Under the previous Baby Bonus scheme, a banking industry professional who wanted to be known only as Michael, 33, said he received an initial $3,000 payout at his child’s birth. He said this was insufficient to cover medical bills racked up over pregnancy and delivery. 

The new Baby Gift, which is paid out in two tranches over a child’s first year, would help offset such costs for future children, said Michael.

Teo Shu Rong, an artist planning manager at the Singapore Chinese Orchestra who has three children aged four months, nine, and 11, said she plans to use the $2,000 yearly payouts on tuition and enrichment lessons. The 41-year-old also appreciated the $10,000 top-up to the Post-Secondary Education Account to offset costs for her children’s tertiary education.

Despite the bundle of benefits, observers were more cautious about its potential effect on Singapore’s resident total fertility rate (TFR), which hit a record low of 0.87 in 2025. They said the measures are helpful for those who already have children, but may not sway couples who do not want children.

MP Loh said the financial benefits are “necessary but insufficient”, and may not alleviate parents’ anxieties around having more children, including concerns about a stressful education system and competitive culture.

More fundamentally, what Singapore needs is a greater desire to have children, with more public discussion about the joys of raising a family, he added.

NTU’s Chua said the measures could make a difference for couples who want children but are hesitating because of concerns over time, cost, housing or how parenthood will fit with their careers.

But for some, he noted that their hesitation reflects broader considerations, such as lifestyle preferences, uncertainty about the future, or simply whether they want children. Financial incentives alone are unlikely to change those preferences.

Institute of Policy Studies senior research fellow Kalpana Vignehsa noted that the Government may be trying to shift the focus away from simply driving up the TFR.

By moving away from schemes which incentivised people to have more children and structuring support across a child’s growing years, the state is assuring Singaporeans that it would support them “for the long haul”, she said.

The work goes beyond engaging couples, to shifting societal mindsets about building a supportive environment for families, which will take time.

Said Kalpana: “If they (the Government) are successful in convincing more people (about their) community responsibility towards having children, then of course it makes a difference to a person contemplating whether or not they should have a child in Singapore.”