SINGAPORE – Approximately 230,000 children up to age 6 in Singapore will receive $200 in Child Development Accounts (CDA) starting September 8th.
The Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) said in a media statement on Monday that children’s CDAs will be credited directly in lump sums starting Sept. 8 or after the CDA opens, whichever is later. said. .
Parents who have not yet opened the CDA must open the CDA by June 30th next year for their child to receive the top-up.
CDA’s top-up is part of the Family Assistance Package announced in the 2022 Budget, which provides families with additional help with childcare costs.
CDA funds can be used to pay for your child’s or sibling’s education and medical expenses at approved institutions. These include registered nurseries, kindergartens, special education schools, early intervention program providers, assistive technology device providers, hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and opticians.
Madam Nur Shafika Hamza, 32, said her three children, aged 8 months and aged 4 and 5, will benefit from additional benefits.
“We use our children’s CDA to pay for medical and child care, and we also regularly save in the CDA to benefit from joint government matching contributions,” she said. rice field.
Another parent, Madam M. Sharanya, 31, said: As such, this charge helps cover some of these costs. ”
After the CDA top-up is credited, the CDA trustee will be notified by SMS, email, or hard copy letter. Parents can check their child’s CDA balance by checking her monthly CDA statement in the bank.
To prevent fraud, MSF and MOF have stated that SMS notifications sent to CDA trustees will only be sent from the SMS ID “MSF”. The notice will only contain information about the status of replenishment after the child’s CDA has been credited.
CDA trustees are not required to reply to the SMS, click any links, or provide any information to the sender. CDA top-up messages are not sent via WhatsApp or other mobile app messaging platforms.
Singaporean children aged 7-20 this year should have already received a $200 one-time charge to their Edusave or higher education account in May.
