Baby Bonus terms 2027: CDA approved uses you can check now

If you have read that a new child support package is replacing Baby Bonus, the useful question is what your family can check and use now. Today the answer is the current terms: MSF's Baby Bonus Scheme and Large Families Scheme pages set out the live amounts, and MSF's circulars set out what a closed Child Development Account (CDA) can pay for. The April 2027 items on those pages are announcements to note, not amounts to budget around. ^{[1] [2]}

Everything below comes from MSF's own pages and circulars, so each line can be opened and read. One exception is labelled as such: the package's reported scale and April 2027 start come from Straits Times reporting, because the MSF pages we checked do not set out the Package's component amounts. For eligibility, MSF directs parents to LifeSG to apply, check eligibility and manage account services. ^{[1] [3]}

The amounts you can check today, by birth order

MSF's Baby Bonus table covers Singapore Citizen children born on or after 18 February 2025. The first child gets an $11,000 Baby Bonus Cash Gift, a $5,000 CDA First Step Grant and a maximum of $4,000 in government co-matching. The second gets $11,000 and $5,000, with up to $7,000 co-matching. Third, fourth and subsequent children get a $13,000 cash gift and a $10,000 First Step Grant, with $9,000 co-matching for the third and fourth child and $15,000 for the fifth and subsequent child. The First Step Grant requires no initial deposit from parents. ^[1]

For a third or subsequent eligible Singapore Citizen child born on or after 18 February 2025, MSF adds a $5,000 Large Family MediSave Grant, the increased First Step Grant, and $1,000 in Large Family LifeSG Credits disbursed annually from the year the child turns one to the year the child turns six, plus privileges at partnered merchants. Those credits also apply to existing large families with at least one child aged six or below. MSF lists the cash gift and the CDA items separately, and the pages we checked do not set out what the cash gift itself may be spent on. ^{[2] [1]}

Where a closed CDA can and cannot be spent

MSF's approved-uses summary covers childminding operators for childminding service fees only, excluding miscellaneous expenses such as diapers, deposits and meal provisions. Childcare centres, kindergartens, special education schools and early intervention centres may charge basic fees and approved indirect expenses listed in Appendix 1 of the Approved Person and Approved Institution Terms and Conditions. MSF registers early intervention centres only where programmes are for children up to six years old, and CDA moneys may be used only for such programmes. Medical institutions cover services provided by a medical practitioner employed there. That same summary, issued in December 2024, also listed pharmacies and optical shops; the next paragraph explains why a parent should not treat those two lines as current. ^[4]

MSF's exclusions are equally specific: CDA moneys cannot be used for administrative fees such as bank processing or late penalty fees, for parents' participation in school activities such as excursions, or for deposits and advance payments for services not yet provided. Two dates shape the rest of the list. From 1 May 2025, CDA use was expanded to cover all incidental charges at registered early childhood developmental centres and preschools. ^{[5] [6] [4] [1]}

From 1 January 2026, MSF discontinued CDA use at optical shops and retail pharmacies, so neither the pharmacy items listed in the older summary (prescribed medication, surgical products, over-the-counter medication, dermatological products, and vitamins and health supplements) nor the optical-shop line describes a purchase a parent can make from the CDA today. Because only an Approved Institution can take CDA payment for approved uses via GIRO or NETS, asking a shop to take CDA payment is itself the quickest test. ^{[5] [6] [4] [1]}

What MSF has announced, and what is not yet set out

MSF states that the SG Child Support Package announced at the 2026 National Day Rally will replace the Baby Bonus Scheme and Large Families Scheme, and that children currently on Baby Bonus will be automatically transitioned to the new Package. The same pages state that the increased large-family First Step Grant will cease from April 2027, and that Large Family LifeSG Credits will also cease with no disbursements in 2027, because Child Credits will go to all eligible children under the Package. MSF adds that more details on additional support for large families will be provided at a later date. ^{[1] [2]}

MSF's Approved Institutions page points readers to go.gov.sg/sgchildsupportpackage for the package itself. The pages we checked do not state its component amounts, a Child Credit value or application steps, and MSF says a larger proportion of support will be given via direct cash grants rather than co-matching. Straits Times reported that the package spreads support from birth to age 17 and provides nearly $70,000 in direct support for every child starting April 2027; that figure and start date come from that reporting, not from an MSF page. ^{[7] [8] [3]}

A worked comparison of two hypothetical spending days

Take one hypothetical parent with a closed CDA and a child at a registered preschool. Paying the centre's basic fee and its incidental charges passes, because since 1 May 2025 CDA use covers all incidental charges at early childhood developmental centres and preschools. Paying that same parent's own excursion participation fee fails, because MSF excludes parents' participation in school activities from approved uses. Two lines at one centre on the same afternoon, one usable and one not. ^{[5] [6]}

For context on co-matching, MSF said in September 2026 that as of 2 September 2026, about 30% of children of single unwed parents had reached the maximum CDA co-matching grant limit, compared with about 70% of children from married households. That snapshot covers children born between 1 September 2016 and 31 December 2020, who are now at least six years old, so it describes that cohort rather than any one family's account. MSF recognises that lower-income families may face greater difficulty saving to benefit from co-matching. ^[7]

So check today against MSF's own terms: your child's birth-order amounts, whether a planned expense sits in an approved CDA category, and which line items never qualify. Read MSF's package page before planning around the large-family First Step Grant increase ending, the absence of 2027 LifeSG Credits, or any Child Credit amount. ^{[2] [3]}

Sources

EduNanny Editorial · AI-assisted research and writing, reviewed by our automated editorial team. Sources checked 2026-10-10. Featured image: AI-generated editorial illustration.