INCENTIVE SCHEMES TO ENCOURAGE PROCREATION (Particulars)

The following Question stood in the name of Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon -

Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon: To ask the Acting Minister for Health how many women out of the total number that gave birth in 1988 benefitted from the various incentive schemes implemented by the Government to encourage population growth.

Dr S. Vasoo (Tiong Bahru GRC): Question No. 5, Sir.

Mr Yeo Cheow Tong: Sir, of the various incentive measures to encourage family formation, the tax incentive and the Medisave incentive schemes are the only ones which specifically relate to the year in which the child was born. The other incentive measures apply to families with three children, irrespective of the dates of birth of the children.

The tax relief and rebate for children born in 1988 will only be applicable to taxpayers in the Year of Assessment 1989. Such data are therefore not available now. As for the Medisave Scheme, 3,316 claims were made by Medisave account holders for the births of their third child for the period January to June 1988. This represents 78% of the total third order births during the same period. Information for the second half of the year is not available as yet.