The Business Times
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S$70,000 is a big number for the NDR baby package. It might not be enough to boost fertility rate

Judge the new child support package by the constraints it removes, not the cash it gives

Summarise
    • Policy cannot tell people how many children to have, but it can narrow the distance between how many children they want and they feel able to have.
    • Policy cannot tell people how many children to have, but it can narrow the distance between how many children they want and they feel able to have. PHOTO: YEN MENG JIIN, BT

    Li Jia

    Published Wed, Sep 16, 2026 · 07:00 AM

    AT THE National Day Rally on Aug 23, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced a major reset of Singapore’s support for families. 

    The headline was the money: Under the new SG Child Support Package, every eligible Singapore citizen child will receive up to S$62,000 from birth to age 17 – almost S$70,000 including existing MediSave and Edusave grants, said the Prime Minister’s Office.

    But the most consequential changes are structural, and they are easy to miss.

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