SINGAPORE – Families on the ComLink+ scheme will receive $500 every quarter if they keep working with their family coaches to improve their lives and take steps towards goals like getting a stable job and buying a house.
They will get this new payout – $200 in cash and $300 through CPF – from the third quarter of 2026.
Announcing this new Partnership Payout in his Budget speech on Feb 12, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said ComLink+ is built around close and sustained support for families, and that the Government is ready to enhance the scheme after strengthening capabilities on the ground.
The new payout aims to recognise the commitment of these families to improve their circumstances as they continue to work with family service centre case workers and family coaches.
The ComLink+ Progress Packages were launched by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) in 2024 to encourage and support lower-income families to reach goals like securing employment, enrolling their children into pre-school, owning a home, and clearing their debt.
“These are more than financial assistance; they are a form of social contract where family coaches work with the families to set clear goals…
“When these milestones are achieved, the families achieve additional payouts,” said PM Wong.
Under the scheme, every family gets a dedicated family coach who works with them to develop personalised action plans and to coordinate support.
Changes will be made to two of the four existing ComLink+ packages from the third quarter of 2026 to provide a higher proportion of payouts in cash and reward intermediate milestones to help more families qualify for payouts.
PM Wong said providing more of these payouts in cash while continuing to set aside monies through their CPF accounts will help families meet immediate needs and also build their longer-term financial security.
With these changes, a family with two children under ComLink+ can receive around $10,000 a year in cash and CPF top-ups, while their children are in pre-school, he added.
Intermediate milestones will be introduced in the areas of pre-school attendance and stable employment to help more families with greater challenges qualify for payouts.
Households with a total monthly income of at least $2,000 will receive $1,250 every quarter – $500 in cash and $750 through CPF.
Families with a total monthly household income of between $1,000 and less than $2,000 will also get a payout of $500 every quarter – $200 in cash and $300 through CPF.
For families that enrol their children into pre-school, they will receive $250 for every quarter of good attendance, which refers to an attendance rate of at least 75 per cent.
The payout will be split into $100 in cash and $150 through the Child Development Account (CDA).
This revised amount is up from the current $200 CDA top-up for every quarter of good attendance.
Children who achieve at least 50 per cent but less than 75 per cent of attendance in pre-school will also receive a $150 payout every quarter – $60 in cash and $90 through CDA.
The upcoming changes do not apply to the other two packages, which reward those who make efforts to repay their debt and save for home ownership.
Debt repayments by ComLink+ families are matched on a 1:1 basis, while every $1 of voluntary CPF contribution will be matched by a $2 top-up.
The payout across all packages is capped at $50,000 for each family.
MSF will provide more details of the new payout and revisions at the debate of its budget, PM Wong said.
One family that has benefited from the ComLink+ scheme is Madam Hurul Ain Abdul Rahman, Mr Muhammad Hafiz Hassan and their five children.
With support from their family coach, Madam Hurul has progressed steadily at her company as a customer relations manager, while Mr Hafiz has upskilled himself and secured a better-paying role as a lorry driver.
They are both receiving support under the ComLink+ package for employment, and their younger children are benefiting from the package for pre-school education.
PM Wong said: “They had taken important steps on their own to stabilise their finances. What they needed was sustained guidance and support to keep moving forward.”
They have made good progress over the past year through hard work and are closer to securing their own four-room HDB flat, he added.
He said the Government will also do more for those with disabilities, their families and caregivers.
To this end, Minister of State for Social and Family Development Goh Pei Ming is leading a task force to review ways to provide more meaningful support at different life stages for persons with disabilities and their families.
These include expanding capacity in community-based facilities, keeping services affordable, and supporting graduates of special education schools to secure meaningful employment and live well in the community, PM Wong said.
He added that strengthening support for persons with disabilities is a key priority and a shared responsibility for all, and he looks forward to the task force’s recommendations.
“The Government stands ready to set aside additional resources to advance these efforts,” he added.
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Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction
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