A Head Start I Never Had
Every year, I watch the National Day Rally not because I am particularly patriotic about policy speeches, but because I have kids now, and every announcement about family support means something different to me than it used to. This year, the government unveiled a new SG Child Support Package, and it is, without exaggeration, one of the more generous moves I have seen in a long time. Here is what it looks like, broken down. The New Package Every Singaporean child, from birth to age 17, will now receive close to $70,000 in direct support. It replaces the old Baby Bonus Cash Gift and Large Families Scheme with something flatter and simpler, where the amount your child receives no longer depends on whether they are your first, second, or fourth. The breakdown goes like this: A $10,000 Baby Gift , paid out in two tranches within the child's first year $32,000 in Child Credits , disbursed as $2,000 cash every year from age one to sixteen A $5,000 CDA First Step Grant , with...