Singapore’s Government has promised every child born there will receive more than $70,000* in support by the time they turn 17.
The country’s birth rate is at a record low, with officials warning the population could start shrinking within two decades.
So, do baby bonuses actually work, and could we have a similar program in Australia?
Here’s what you need to know.
*There are a lot of dollar amounts in this piece. For ease of reading, each time you see a $, it means Australian dollars.
Background
In 2025, Singapore’s fertility rate fell to a record low of 0.87 children per woman.
A decade ago, the rate was 1.24.
A falling birth rate today means a smaller working-age population down the track, while the number of older people needing support keeps growing.
A 2024 UN report showed 55% of the world’s territories now sit below the replacement rate of 2.1 children per woman, the level needed to sustain a population without migration.
Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong unveiled the new Child Support Package on Sunday.
Previous schemes increased payouts for each successive child.
Every child born a Singaporean citizen will now get the same level of support, regardless of birth order.
The money is spread across multiple payments from infancy to age 17.
- $11,000 baby gift, paid in two cash instalments in the child’s first year.
- $35,200 in child credits, paid as $2,200 a year from age one to 16.
- Up to $11,000 split across a Child Development Account grant and a Government payment.
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- $11,000 top-up to a post-secondary education account at age 17.
With existing supports, the total exceeds $70,000 per child by age 17.
Will it work?
Singapore has run some version of a baby bonus since 2001.
Despite that, the fertility rate has slid lower almost every year this decade.
Cash incentives have had limited success elsewhere in Asia, with Japan and South Korea both increasing payouts while birth rates keep falling.
Researchers point to delayed marriage, career pressure and the cost of living as bigger drivers than money alone.
Australia
In 2004, Liberal Treasurer Peter Costello introduced a program to give parents $3,000 for each new child born, urging Australians to have “one for mum, one for dad, and one for the country”.
The initiative was scrapped in 2014.
In 2025, Matt Canavan (now Nationals leader) told TDA he wanted to offer a $100,000 low-interest government loan for first-time parents to buy a home.
Minister for Women Katy Gallagher called it a “1950s” idea and questioned how it would be implemented.
What’s next?
The new package will take effect in Singapore from April 2027.
Around 610,000 children across 380,000 households are expected to benefit.
Full-day childcare fees are also set to drop from $610 to $150 a month in the coming years.
Subsidies will be extended to families regardless of whether the parent applying for them is working.
