Reviewing Working Mother's Child Relief Scheme and Enhancing Relief Quantum to Offset Rising Costs

Ms Valerie Lee asked the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance whether the Government will review and enhance the Working Mother's Child Relief by (i) increasing the relief quantum, (ii) pegging the relief quantum to income earned or (iii) assessing its adequacy in substantially offsetting rising childcare and household costs.

The Working Mother's Child Relief (WMCR) is given to encourage married women to remain in the workforce after having children. The WMCR was changed from a percentage of the mother's earned income to a fixed dollar relief to provide equal support for children of the same child order regardless of the mother's income. Pegging the relief quantum to the mother's income would disproportionately benefit higher-income earners and make the scheme less progressive.

The changes to the WMCR were part of a broader effort to strengthen support for families. In recent years, we have enhanced the Baby Bonus Cash Gift and Child Development Account, introduced the Large Families Scheme and expanded support for early childhood education. In this year's Budget, we further raised the monthly household income thresholds for preschool subsidies and Student Care Fee Assistance, enabling more families to benefit.

The Government is committed to helping parents cope with child-raising costs. Our approach is to provide comprehensive and progressive support for families, rather than relying on a single relief measure. We will regularly review our policies and schemes to address parents’ needs and concerns.