Fewer kids of single unwed parents receive maximum government co-matching benefits: MSF

About 30 per cent of children of single unwed parents had reached the maximum CDA co-matching grant limit, compared to about 70 per cent of children from married households.

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Published Sep 14, 2026, 07:59 PM

Updated Sep 14, 2026, 07:59 PM

Children of single unwed parents in Singapore are less likely to reach the maximum Child Development Account (CDA) co-matching grant limit compared to children from married couples.

The government has introduced new cash benefits and support packages for children of unmarried parents to help close the funding gap and provide equal opportunities.

Experts highlight financial pressures on single parents and call for more financial literacy and targeted support to ensure children’s development is not hindered by family background.

SINGAPORE – A wide gap has surfaced in how Singaporean parents tap a government co-savings scheme for their children’s development, with single unwed parents significantly less likely to maximise the benefits than married couples.

As of Sept 2, only about 30 per cent of children of single unwed parents had reached the maximum Child Development Account (CDA) co-matching grant limit, compared to about 70 per cent of children from married households, said the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF).

This suggests that single unwed parents are facing greater hurdles in making the voluntary deposits required to receive the full government co-funding for their children, despite equal access to the scheme.

The CDA can be used only to support the children’s education and healthcare needs. Each account has an initial $5,000 grant. For every dollar that is deposited into it – which could be by parents, relatives or donors – the Government will co-match up to a cap.

Current caps range between $4,000 for the first child and $15,000 for the fifth child. From Oct 1, 2027, these caps will be standardised to $5,000 regardless of birth order, as part of new measures for marriage and parenthood announced during the National Day Rally.

MSF gave the statistics showing the wide disparity between children of the two groups of parents in a parliamentary reply on Sept 10, in response to a question raised by MP Gabriel Lam (Sembawang GRC).

The statistics were based on data for children born between Sept 1, 2016 and Dec 31, 2020. These children are now at least six years old – by which the CDA co-matching grant “would have been fully utilised in most instances”, said the ministry.

“We recognise that lower-income families, including some single-income families, may face greater difficulty saving to benefit from the co-matching structure,” it added.

Children of unwed parents started qualifying for the scheme only from September 2016. Previously, it was only available to children with married parents.

Between 2020 and 2024, an average of about 745 babies a year were born here to Singaporean mothers who were not married to the baby’s father at the time of birth.

Jennifer Heng, director of Safe Place, a charity helping pregnant women in distress, said single parents often find it hard to set aside money for savings given their financial pressures.

The burden of paying for housing, food, transport and childcare falls entirely upon their shoulders, unlike dual-income married couples, said Heng.

“Between saving and feeding their child the next meal, of course they will take out the money to use it for the next meal,” she said. “It’s not that they don’t think saving is important. I think many of them feel that they just can’t afford to save right now.”

Nominated MP Terence Ho noted that children of single unwed parents may ultimately end up with less funding in their CDA for early education and development.

However, the adjunct associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy said that the disparity must be viewed alongside “the significant support given to all Singaporeans, regardless of parents’ marital status.”

More benefits for kids of unwed parents

In Lam’s parliamentary query on Sept 10, he had asked whether MSF assessed if the co-matching framework created greater challenges for single-income families and what additional support was under consideration.

MSF said the Government introduced the First Step Grant in 2016 as it recognises the difficulties faced by lower-income families. It deposits a sum upfront in all CDAs without requiring parents to contribute an initial amount.

In addition, new cash benefits under the SG Child Support Package announced at the National Day Rally will be extended to children of unmarried parents . This includes a $10,000 cash gift and $2,000 in Child Credits given in cash annually over 16 years.

This marked a significant shift as children born out of wedlock were previously excluded from some baby-related cash benefits, like the Baby Bonus Scheme.

MSF said with the new package, a larger proportion of support will be given via direct cash grants instead of co-matching. It added that lower-income families, regardless of marital status, are further supported through high means-tested subsidies for services such as education and healthcare.

To further close the gap, Ho suggested other forms of support such as higher CDA co-matching rates for lower-income families. Heng called for more financial literacy for single unwed parents so they can learn how to best manage their limited money.

The fundamental concern is that children are not disadvantaged due to their family backgrounds, said Heng.

“The focus needs to turn to the children, to ensure that our children have equal opportunities (and) access to what is essential for their development.”

Christine Tan is a correspondent at The Straits Times reporting on social affairs and issues of justice in Singapore.

Ministry of Social and Family Development

约有 30% 的单身未婚父母的孩子达到了 CDA 共同匹配补助金的最高限额，而已婚家庭的孩子中约有 70% 达到了这一限额。

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发布于 2026 年 9 月 14 日晚上 7:59

更新于2026年9月14日晚上7:59

与已婚夫妇的孩子相比，新加坡单身未婚父母的孩子不太可能达到儿童发展账户 (CDA) 的最高配套补助限额。

政府推出了新的现金福利和扶持计划，以帮助缩小非婚生子女的资金缺口，并提供平等的机会。

专家强调单亲父母面临的经济压力，并呼吁加强金融知识普及和有针对性的支持，以确保儿童的发展不会因家庭背景而受到阻碍。

新加坡——新加坡父母在利用政府共同储蓄计划为子女发展做出贡献方面存在巨大差距，单身未婚父母充分利用该计划福利的可能性明显低于已婚夫妇。

社会及家庭发展部（MSF）表示，截至9月2日，只有约30%的单身未婚父母的孩子达到了儿童发展账户（CDA）的最高配套补助金限额，而已婚家庭的孩子中约有70%达到了这一限额。

这表明，尽管单身未婚父母享有同等的参与机会，但他们在缴纳自愿存款以获得政府对其子女的全额共同资助方面面临着更大的障碍。

儿童发展账户（CDA）只能用于支持儿童的教育和医疗保健需求。每个账户初始资金为5000美元。对于存入账户的每一美元（存款人可以是父母、亲属或捐赠者），政府都会提供等额配捐，但设有上限。

目前，子女抚养费上限为第一个孩子4000新元，第五个孩子15000新元。从2027年10月1日起，无论生育顺序如何，抚养费上限将统一为5000新元，这是国庆群众大会上宣布的婚姻和生育新措施的一部分。

9月10日，社会及家庭发展部在国会答复议员林嘉伟（三巴旺集选区）提出的问题时，提供了统计数据，显示两组父母的孩子之间存在巨大差异。

这些统计数据基于 2016 年 9 月 1 日至 2020 年 12 月 31 日期间出生的儿童的数据。这些儿童现在至少六岁了——教育部表示，到那时，CDA 的配套补助金“在大多数情况下都已被充分利用”。

“我们认识到，低收入家庭，包括一些单收入家庭，可能面临更大的储蓄困难，从而无法从共同匹配机制中受益，”声明补充道。

从 2016 年 9 月起，非婚生子女才开始有资格享受该计划。此前，该计划仅适用于已婚父母的子女。

2020 年至 2024 年间，新加坡每年平均约有 745 名婴儿出生，这些婴儿的母亲是新加坡人，但在孩子出生时并未与孩子的父亲结婚。

帮助困境中孕妇的慈善机构 Safe Place 的负责人 Jennifer Heng 表示，由于经济压力，单亲父母往往很难存下钱来。

Heng表示，与双职工已婚夫妇不同，住房、食品、交通和托儿费用全部由他们承担。

“在储蓄和给孩子准备下一顿饭之间，他们当然会把钱拿出来用于下一顿饭，”她说。“这并不是说他们认为储蓄不重要。我认为他们中的许多人只是觉得现在根本负担不起储蓄。”

委任议员何志强指出，单亲未婚父母的孩子最终可能会在儿童发展账户中获得较少的早期教育和发展资金。

然而，李光耀公共政策学院的兼职副教授表示，必须将这种差异与“所有新加坡人，无论父母的婚姻状况如何，都得到的巨大支持”放在一起看待。

非婚生子女享有更多福利

林郑月娥在9月10日的议会质询中询问，社会及家庭发展部是否评估过共同匹配框架是否会给单收入家庭带来更大的挑战，以及正在考虑提供哪些额外的支持。

无国界医生组织表示，政府于2016年推出“第一步补助金”，旨在帮助低收入家庭应对困境。该补助金会预先存入所有儿童发展账户（CDA），无需家长缴纳任何初始费用。

此外，在国庆群众大会上宣布的“新加坡儿童抚养配套”中的新现金福利将扩大至非婚生子女。这包括每年1万新元的现金赠款和2000新元的儿童津贴，分16​​年以现金形式发放。

这标志着一个重大转变，因为非婚生子女此前被排除在一些与婴儿相关的现金福利之外，例如婴儿花红计划。

无国界医生组织表示，在新方案中，更大比例的援助将以直接现金补助的形式发放，而非采用配套资金的方式。该组织还补充说，无论婚姻状况如何，低收入家庭都将获得进一步的支持，包括针对教育和医疗保健等服务的高额收入补助。

为了进一步缩小差距，何女士建议采取其他形式的支持，例如提高低收入家庭的社区发展账户（CDA）共同匹配比例。王女士则呼吁加强对未婚单身父母的金融知识普及，帮助他们学习如何更好地管理有限的资金。

亨表示，最根本的问题是，孩子们不会因为家庭背景而处于不利地位。

“我们应该把重点放在孩子身上，确保我们的孩子拥有平等的机会和获得发展所需资源的机会。”

克里斯汀·谭是《海峡时报》的记者，报道新加坡的社会事务和司法问题。

社会及家庭发展部