The annual National Day Rally, delivered by the prime minister, is one of the most anticipated speeches of the year. In 2024, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong gave his inaugural National Day Rally speech as he outlined Singapore’s future and the evolving Singapore dream.
In a speech generally focused on younger people, Singaporeans are no longer focusing on pursuing the 5Cs but prioritising other important areas of their lives, including their careers, families, housing, and education. We highlight five key policies discussed in the National Day Rally 2024 speech and how the government hopes to financially support Singaporeans in achieving their dreams.
Read Also: Why The Singapore Dream Is No Longer About Credit Cards, Country Clubs & Cash
#1 Introduction Of The SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support Scheme
Being involuntarily unemployed can be a difficult experience. To assist Singaporeans facing this challenge, such as those who are retrenched, the government is introducing the SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support Scheme.
This program provides up to $6,000 over six months and offers additional support through training and career services for job placement.
#2 Four Weeks Paternity Leave To Be Mandatory
In the 2023 Singapore budget, it was announced that Government-Paid Paternity Leave (GPPL) will be doubled from two weeks to up to four weeks. However, while the first two weeks were mandatory, the additional two weeks are voluntary, subject to the employer’s agreement.
From 1 April 2025 onwards (interestingly, this is about 8 months from today), all 4 weeks of paternity leave will be mandatory.
Read Also: Guide To Understanding How Government-Paid Paternity Leave Works in Singapore
#3 Government-Paid Shared Parental Leave
Eligible working fathers can share up to 4 weeks of their wife’s government-paid maternity leave through the Shared Parental Leave scheme. However, the limitation of this is that it reduces the mother’s entitlement.
Also announced in the National Day Rally 2024 is that from 1 April 2025 onwards, a new scheme – Government-Paid Shared Parental Leave – will take effect. Eligible working parents will be provided an additional 6 weeks of paid parental leave, which will be shared between parents. This will increase to 10 weeks from 1 April 2026.
#4 Enhanced Housing Grant To Be Enhanced (pun unintended)
According to PM Wong, the house price-to-income ratio (based on median 4-room resale price after grants / median annual household income) is 4.8 as of 2023, similar to 2014.
However, affordable housing remains a concern for many Singaporeans, especially those looking to buy their first home.
Many housing grants are available to help ensure HDB flats remain affordable, including the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant (EHG), which provides a grant of up to $80,000.
PM Wong announced that the EHG will be enhanced with more details to be released later.
#5 Singles Can Also Enjoy Priority Schemes For HDB Flats
HDB has priority schemes to enhance the chances of applicants securing a flat during the BTO and SBF sales exercises.
One such scheme is the Married Child Priority Scheme (MCPS). Designed to encourage families to live close or with each other, it allows couples who want to move near their parents’ residence (within 4 km) or want their parents to move in with them into the BTO flat to have a better chance of securing a flat.
PM Wong announced that the scheme will be extended to include all children, married or single, who wish to live near or with their parents moving forward.
Read Also: Complete Guide To Priority Schemes For HDB BTO Flats
Beyond the schemes with direct financial impact, several other policies reflecting Singapore’s evolving priorities were announced during the National Day Rally 2024 speech. These include measures to keep preschool fees affordable, upcoming support for larger families to be announced in Budget 2025, a review of how to make HDB flats more senior-friendly, and the discontinuation of the Gifted Education Programme (GEP) in favour of a more decentralised approach where individual primary schools can help students develop in their own areas of talent.
More details of all these announcements will be released at a later date.
The post National Day Rally 2024: 5 Policies To Financially Support The Singapore Dream appeared first on DollarsAndSense.sg.
