Let’s face it, parenthood is expensive.
No matter how well you plan, it’s impossible to really predict all the costs that come with raising a child, such as medical costs, baby essentials, infant care and more.
New parents here at MoneySmart have said that the cost of raising a child in Singapore surprised them — even with sound planning — and had an impact on their cash flow and finances.
The option of taking out a personal loan has helped these young families tide over this period. With these extra funds, they were able to better manage any cash flow issues or best cater to their baby’s needs.
If you’re expecting a new addition to your family, don’t be caught unawares. Here are some of the costs to expect:
Prenatal, labour and delivery costs
Before raising a child, you’ll need to get pregnant (if you’re not already), go for regular check-ups and scans to monitor your growing foetus, and finally deliver your new bundle of joy.
For starters, here’s a quick summary of the key costs involved:
| Pre-pregnancy screening | From S$349 to S$700 |
| Prenatal check-ups | From S$429.40 to S$2,350 |
| Prenatal supplements | From S$100 to S$450 per month / From S$900 to S$4,050 (total cost during pregnancy) |
| Fetal abnormality tests (optional) | From S$20 to S$10,750 |
| Maternity insurance (optional) | From S$320 to S$600 a month / From S$2,880 to S$5,400 (total cost during pregnancy) |
| Prenatal classes (optional) | From S$160.50 to S$895 per couple |
| Childbirth (natural delivery) | From S$937 to S$9,913 |
| Childbirth (Caesarean section) | From S$1,747 to S$14,982 |
| TOTAL | From S$2,615.40 to S$49,982 |
*Prices are estimates and are not conclusive of your actual costs
Do note that the prenatal costs can vary if you’re having more than 1 child (congrats!), if you opt to see a highly recommended gynaecologist, if you’re going for fertility treatments or choosing a water birth. The cost difference between that of a public and private hospital is significant as well.
Then there’s your maternity clothes, additional pillows during your pregnancy to keep you comfortable, signing up for prenatal yoga classes and other factors.
There are also other considerations, such as postnatal massage, hiring a confinement nanny and/or lactation consultant, confinement food, and more.
Did you know that you can take up a personal loan to better manage these costs? For example, the Standard Chartered CashOne Personal Loan disburses the funds within 15 minutes so it’s easier to manage any cash flow issues.
Your baby’s medical costs
When baby’s in your arms, you’ll need to make visits to the doctor especially in the first few years for check-ups, jabs… and sometimes baby just falls sick.
Here are some medical cost estimates of what a young couple may be spending on:
| Vaccinations (some are fully-subsidised for Singapore citizens) | S$450 to S$1,500 |
| Visits to the paediatrician | From S$55 to S$180 per visit |
*Prices are estimates and are not conclusive of your actual costs
Of course, the ideal situation would be to limit our bundle to joy to just “well-baby” visits to check on his/her development and growth. However, we cannot accurately predict these costs — for example, it could be flu season and the family members fall sick, or there could be exposure to germs in infant care.
As parents, it’s only natural to worry about your baby’s health — and you shouldn’t need to worry about your cash flow as well during these times. A personal loan could help with these cash flow issues, especially if it comes with quick approval, quick disbursement of cash and versatility of cash use, such as the Standard Chartered CashOne Personal Loan.
Baby essentials
There are just so many baby essentials to buy, to fulfil his or her nutrition, comfort, safety needs and overall well being. Some baby essentials also help to make mum’s life easier.
Here’s a quick overview of the key baby essentials a young parent will spend on and their estimated prices:
| Formula milk powder | About S$50 a tin (a tin lasts a newborn about 5-7 days) / About S$250 a month / About S$3,000 a year |
| Diapers | About S$0.30 per piece / About S$45 per month / About S$540 a year |
| Child insurance | S$41 to over S$500 per year |
| Clothes | From S$100 |
| Crib and bedding | From S$250 |
| Baby bottles and other feeding items | From S$170 |
| Breast pump (optional) | From S$60 to over S$600 |
| Car seat (optional if you don’t have a car) | From S$169 to over S$500 |
| Stroller | From S$150 to over S$3,000 |
| Baby carrier | From S$30 to over S$250 |
| Nursing bra | About S$20 each (to get at least 2 or 3) |
| Baby monitor (optional) | From S$50 to over S$300 |
| TOTAL | From S$4,321 to over S$9,270 in the first year |
*Prices are estimates and are not conclusive of your actual costs
You might also spend money on educational aids, a diaper changing table, a nursing cover, pillows that claim to make your baby’s head perfectly round, a new freezer to store breast milk, baby toys, more clothes than your baby actually needs, a steriliser for baby’s milk bottles, a playpen, a fashionable diaper bag, a vacuum flask to store hot water for baby’s milk, a blender to make puree for baby, an air purifier, a studio photoshoot and more.
Infant care
Not every young family has the luxury of grandparents who can take care of their child when mum returns to work — yes, just like how not all mothers (or dads) can afford to be a stay-at-home parent.
In a dual-income young family with little support, infant care is the likely option. Here’s how much it usually costs:
| Infant care (2 to 18 months) | S$1,290 to S$2,500 per month |
| Childcare centres (18 months to 6 years old) | S$496 to S$1,500 |
*Prices are estimates and are not conclusive of your actual costs
Other options include hiring a nanny, babysitter or getting a trusted domestic helper to look after Junior when both parents are at work.
Prices for infant care seem steep, but thankfully, there are subsidies available. Which brings us to the next point…
Maximise available subsidies
Singaporeans have access to government subsidies that defray the costs of conception support, and maternity and newborn care. According to the Ministry of Health, these schemes are covered by our MediSave or MediShield plans, except for the Assisted Reproduction Technology Scheme, which is a government co-funded scheme.
There’s also a Baby Bonus payout, for which you will need to open a Child Development Account (CDA) to receive.
Here’s a quick overview of what subsidies/bonuses are available for young parents and parents-to-be:
| MediSave Maternity Package |
Withdraw: – Up to S$900 for pre-delivery medical expenses, – An additional surgical withdrawal limit between S$750 and S$2,150 depending on the type of delivery procedure, and – Up to S$450 for each day in the hospital. |
| MediSave Grant for Newborns | Upon registration of birth, a MediSave account will automatically be created in your newborn’s name and a MediSave grant of S$4,000 deposited. |
| MediSave Life Coverage from Birth | A basic health insurance that helps to pay for large hospital bills and selected costly outpatient treatments. All Singapore Citizen babies, including those with congenital and neonatal conditions, are automatically covered from birth by MediShield Life, for life. |
| MediSave for Assisted Conception Procedures | A couple may withdraw S$6,000, S$5,000 and S$4,000 from Medisave for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd treatment cycles respectively. |
| Baby Bonus — Cash Gift | S$8,000 to S$10,000 |
| Baby Bonus — CDA First Step | S$3,000 |
| Baby Bonus — CDA Dollar-for-dollar matching | Up to S$15,000 (depending on birth order of child) |
| Infant care subsidy | Up to S$600 |
| Child care subsidy | Up to S$300 |
| Additional child care subsidy | Up to S$540 for infant care and up to S$440 for childcare |
| Kindergarten Fee Assistance Scheme (KiFAS) | Up to S$170 |
| Start Up Grant | Up to S$240 to help pay for kindergarten essentials such as uniforms, registration fees and so on. |
| Levy Concession for a Foreign Domestic Worker | Hire a domestic helper at a subsidised rate if your child is below 16 years old (concessionary rate of S$60 per month) |
If you’re a working mum, you can also claim income tax reliefs in addition to other government benefits aimed to help young families.
Consider Standard Chartered CashOne Personal Loan
Phew, that’s a lot of budget planning to do if you’re planning to start a family.
However, if you don’t want to turn into a calculator crunching Mumzilla or Dadzilla, why not consider taking out a personal loan should you need extra cash for mum and baby?
After all, we only want the best for our loved ones.
Here’s a quick summary of the total expenses by category (prenatal and postnatal) to help you along with your baby budget:
| Prenatal, delivery and labour cost | From S$2,615.40 to S$49,982 |
| Medical costs | From S$505 to over S$3,000 in the first year |
| Baby essentials | From S$4,321 to over S$9,270 in the first year |
| Infant care (optional) | From S$1,290 to S$2,500 per month / From S$12,900 to S$25,000 in the first year (2 months old to 1 year) |
| TOTAL | From S$7,441.40 to over S$87,252 |
*Prices are estimates and are not conclusive of your actual costs
With infant care thrown in, parents can expect to budget at least S$10,000 to S$20,000 for their newborn. This can be tough on the wallet, so here’s how the Standard Chartered CashOne Personal Loan can help:
Scenario
Mary and John are planning to have a baby. The couple wants to budget S$20,000 for the baby while they can afford to make monthly repayments of up to S$900 a month. They decide to take up the Standard Chartered CashOne Personal Loan to aid in their budgeting plans.
The table below shows how Standard Chartered CashOne Personal Loan will fit in their budget if they apply for a loan of S$20,000, at 3.48% p.a. (EIR* 7.63% p.a.) over a tenure of 2 years.
| Loan amount | S$20,000 |
| Interest rate | 3.48% p.a. (EIR* 7.63% p.a.) |
| Tenure | 2 years |
| Monthly repayment | S$891 |
Benefits include:
– Competitive interest rate from 3.48% p.a. (EIR* from 6.95% p.a.)
– Allows for a change of loan tenure (for a fee of S$50 per change)
– Fixed monthly repayment
– Get cash disbursed into any existing bank account of your choice within 15 minutes1 when you apply online1
Get S$20 cashback2 when you apply via MyInfo and 50% off your first month instalment3 with Standard Chartered CashOne Personal Loan. Apply here.
*EIR is calculated taking into consideration the first-year annual fee of S$199; and is based on average loan amount of S$20,000.
1Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore) Limited’s CashOne Personal Loan / Credit Card Instalment Loan Disbursement Terms and Conditions is applicable if an applicant makes an application for a CashOne Personal Loan (“CashOne”) or a Credit Card Instalment Loan (“Application”), successfully submits a completed Application to the Bank and the Bank approves such an Application. The transfer of funds to the applicant’s designated Standard Chartered Current/Cheque & Save Account(s) or non-Standard Chartered Current or Savings Account (each account a “Designated Account”) (“Loan Disbursement”) is subject to (a) the applicant successfully submitting a completed Application to the Bank; and (b) the Bank approving the Application which must satisfy the Bank’s eligibility criteria, including our credit and risk management policies, as well as prevailing laws and regulations. The Bank reserves the right to reject any Application which does not fulfil our criteria at our discretion. If the Bank is unable to process the Application or the Loan Disbursement due to system failure, system outage, malfunction, delay or any other circumstances whatsoever, whether within our reasonable control or otherwise, the Bank is not able to provide Loan Disbursement within the time periods(as stated in clauses 3 to 5 of the CashOne Personal Loan / Credit Card Instalment Loan Disbursement terms and conditions), and the Bank disclaims all liability arising for any such delay including any loss, damage or inconvenience caused to/incurred by you the applicant, or any third party arising from or in connection therewith. Click here for the full CashOne Personal Loan / Credit Card Instalment Loan Disbursement Terms and Conditions which apply.
2Click here for CashOne Personal Loan MyInfo Cashback Promotion Terms and Conditions
3Click here for CashOne Personal Loan Cashback Online Promotion.
Disclaimer: All views expressed in the article are the independent opinions of MoneySmart Singapore Pte. Ltd. All information provided is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be construed as advice or an offer for any product or service. Standard Chartered is not liable for any informational errors, incompleteness, delays, or for any actions taken in reliance on information contained herein.
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