Transport Subsidies or Rebates as Measure to Encourage Marriage and Parenthood

Mr David Hoe asked the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance whether the Government will consider having commuting support measures to encourage marriage and parenthood, such as stronger cost offsets including targeted or time-limited private transport rebates or equivalent transport credits for families with young children, particularly for lower- and middle-income households.

The Government provides a suite of financial support measures to help families with young children manage the costs of child-raising. We are aware of the cost of transport for families with young children and have factored this into the design of our financial support schemes, which include cash and cash-like payouts, that can be used to offset the cost of transport services.

For example, all families received $500 in Child LifeSG Credits (CLC) for each Singaporean child aged 12 and below last year and will receive another round of CLC this year. Under the Large Families Scheme, eligible families with three or more children also receive up to $6,000 in Large Family LifeSG Credits (LFLC) for each third and subsequent child. The CLC and LFLC can be used to defray the cost of taxi and private hire transport services. The Large Families Scheme also provides families with three or more children with special privileges at partner merchants, such as deals, when booking car-sharing services.

We will continue to review our policies to strengthen support for families.