Children up to 6 to receive $400 Child Development Account top-ups

Singaporean children are to receive a one-off top-up from mid-September this year in their Child Development Accounts (CDA).

This top-up applies to those up to six years of age and will benefit about 240,000 children, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) said in a joint statement today (Sept 4).

At $400, this top-up to each CDA is double the amount distributed in 2022.

"The CDA top-up is part of the enhancements to the Assurance Package announced at Budget 2023 to provide families with additional financial support in the child's early years," the statement reads.

The amount will be sent directly into eligible children's CDAs onwards from mid-September.

However, parents must open a CDA by June 30, 2024 for their children to receive the top-up.

CDA trustees will receive a notification via email, SMS or a hardcopy letter once the top-up has been credited.

Parents can view their CDA balance through their bank's monthly CDA statement.

To guard against scams, the SMS notifications will bear the SMS ID of "MSF" and will only present information on the status of the top-up after it has been credited into the CDA.

No requests will be made to reply, click on links or provide any information to the sender. These messages will also not be sent via any other mobile application messaging platforms.

CDA funds can be used to pay for a child's — or their sibling's — educational and healthcare expenses at registered childcare centres, kindergartens, special education schools, providers of early intervention programmes, providers of assistive technology devices, hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, and optical shops.

A similar $300 top-up was provided for Singaporean children aged seven to 20 this year and should have already been sent to respective Edusave accounts or Post-Secondary Education Accounts in May.

khooyihang@asiaone.com