The cost of raising a child in Singapore
Put in what each stage will cost you. The page takes off what the government pays and shows what is left, and what it does to your date.
What the child costs you, after the support
Put in what you expect to pay
The four boxes for a year of each stage are empty on purpose: this page states no average cost of raising a child. Put in what you expect to pay, or start from example figures. The support the government pays is already counted below: S$35,229 in cash, and S$16,168 in accounts that pay only approved costs.
The child and what each stage costs
Your tax and the child's accounts
You
The link carries your figures after the #, so you can save or share it. Your figures are not sent to us.
Figures in Singapore dollars (S$), from LifeSG, CPF and IRAS (read 30 October 2026). Education, not financial advice.
What the government pays, as printed
A Singapore citizen child born on or after 1 April 2027
LifeSG's SG Child Support Package, the same for every birth order. Payouts start in April 2027.
- Baby Gift
- S$10,000 in cash, paid in two parts within 12 months of the birth
- Child Credits
- S$2,000 a year in cash, from age 1 to 16
- CDA First Step Grant
- S$5,000, paid into the Child Development Account once it is opened
- CDA government matching
- Dollar for dollar on what you put in, up to S$5,000
- PSEA top-up
- S$10,000 once, into the Post-Secondary Education Account when the child turns 17
- MediSave Grant for Newborns
- S$5,000 into the child's MediSave account, for every citizen newborn (LifeSG)
If your child was born earlier: the Baby Bonus Scheme
For a citizen child born on or after 14 February 2023 to lawfully married parents, until the Package replaces it. Children enrolled in it move to the Package automatically from April 2027, with changes to the Cash Gift and the CDA that LifeSG sets out on its own page and this page does not work out: your total will differ from the list.
- First child
- Cash Gift S$11,000, First Step Grant S$5,000, matching up to S$4,000
- Second child
- Cash Gift S$11,000, First Step Grant S$5,000, matching up to S$7,000
- Third and fourth child
- Cash Gift S$13,000, First Step Grant S$10,000*, matching up to S$9,000
- Fifth and later child
- Cash Gift S$13,000, First Step Grant S$10,000*, matching up to S$15,000
From 1 October 2027 all CDA co-matching caps are adjusted to S$5,000 (LifeSG); parents may keep saving to the cap in the table until 30 September 2027. This page does not model the change.
*For a third or later citizen child born from 18 February 2025; S$5,000 before that. A child who was not a citizen at birth may get less.
Tax: Year of Assessment 2026
IRAS had not published Year of Assessment 2027 when we read it. Qualifying Child Relief is S$4,000 a child under 16 (or 16 and over in full-time study) whose own income was no more than S$8,000 in the year before. Working Mother's Child Relief, for a married, divorced or widowed working mother of a Singapore citizen child, is a fixed S$8,000, S$10,000 or S$12,000 for a first, second or third-and-later child born or adopted on or after 1 January 2024, and the two together are capped at S$50,000 a child.
What this does not count
The same method for a US family, with its costs and accounts, is on the child cost calculator, and the care years after the federal tax help are on the childcare cost calculator. The pot you need once the child has grown, with CPF counted, is on retire early in Singapore, and what goes into your CPF each month is on the CPF calculator.
- Preschool subsidies depend on household income and whether a parent works: see ECDA's infant and childcare subsidies. Put your fee after them in the preschool box.
- School fees depend on citizenship and the school: see MOE's school fees.
- The Large Families Scheme is read only as far as the Package page states it; LifeSG has the scheme itself.
- A concession on the foreign domestic worker levy for a household with a young citizen child is not counted: see MOM's levy concession.
- The Parenthood Tax Rebate, the overall cap on tax reliefs, and relief for a child in full-time study after 16 are not counted.
- The cost of a second or third child is a separate run: the Package pays the same for each, but the order changes Working Mother's Child Relief.
Questions people ask
- How much does it cost to raise a child in Singapore?
- This page does not give an average. What a family spends depends on the childcare it uses, the school, whether there is a helper, and how the child studies afterwards, so the page asks for your own yearly cost for each stage and adds them up. Then it takes off what the government pays and shows what is left.
- What is the SG Child Support Package?
- It is the scheme LifeSG says will replace the Baby Bonus Scheme and the Large Families Scheme, with payouts starting in April 2027. For a Singapore citizen child born on or after 1 April 2027 it gives a S$10,000 Baby Gift, S$2,000 a year in Child Credits from age 1 to 16, a S$5,000 CDA First Step Grant, government matching of your CDA deposits up to S$5,000, and a S$10,000 top-up to the Post-Secondary Education Account at 17. LifeSG says every citizen child gets the same, whatever the birth order.
- Why is some of the support counted differently?
- Cash reaches your bank account and you can spend it on anything, so it comes straight off the cost. Money in the Child Development Account, the child's MediSave and the Post-Secondary Education Account can only pay approved costs, such as fees at approved institutions and healthcare, so it counts only to the share of each year's cost you choose. What is not used stays in the child's accounts and the page says how much.
- What if my baby is born before 1 April 2027?
- A child born before then is on the Baby Bonus Scheme until the Package takes over. LifeSG says children enrolled in the Baby Bonus Scheme move to the Package automatically from April 2027, and gives top-ups for the Cash Gift and new amounts for the CDA, but this page does not work those transitions out. The list above shows what the Baby Bonus Scheme pays by birth order; use LifeSG's own page for your child.
- How do the tax reliefs help?
- A relief lowers the income you are taxed on, so it saves tax at your top rate. Qualifying Child Relief is S$4,000 a child. A working mother can also claim Working Mother's Child Relief, a fixed S$8,000 for a first child born or adopted on or after 1 January 2024, S$10,000 for a second and S$12,000 for a third or later. The page multiplies the relief by the rate you enter, for each year the child is under 16. IRAS had not published Year of Assessment 2027 when we read it, so these are the Year of Assessment 2026 amounts.
- How does this change the date I reach my number?
- Month by month, in today's money. A twelfth of each year's net cost comes out of what you save, or goes into it if the support is bigger than the cost, and the page compares the date with and without the child. Your number is your yearly spending divided by the withdrawal rate. CPF is left out of it; the pot that counts CPF is on the early retirement page.
Sources, read by us on 30 October 2026: LifeSG: SG Child Support Package, LifeSG: Baby Bonus Scheme, LifeSG: MediSave Grant for Newborns, IRAS: Qualifying Child Relief and IRAS: Working Mother's Child Relief. Every cost on this page is the one you put in. Education, not financial advice.