Child Development Co-Savings Act
(CHAPTER 38A)

(Original Enactment: Act 13 of 2001)

REVISED EDITION 2002
(31st July 2002)
An Act to encourage married persons in Singapore to have more children, to facilitate the provision of cash grants and the making of financial provision for the development of children, to enable financial provision to be made for children of parents who have been granted a divorce, a judicial separation or an annulment of marriage, and for matters connected therewith.
[13/2011 wef 01/05/2011]
[1st April 2001]
PART I
PRELIMINARY
Short title
1.  This Act may be cited as the Child Development Co-Savings Act.
[13/2011 wef 01/05/2011]
Interpretation
2.—(1)  In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —
“adoptive father” includes a man who —
(a)applies to adopt a child in accordance with any written law relating to the adoption of children; or
(b)has obtained a dependant’s pass for a child whom he intends to adopt in accordance with any written law relating to the adoption of children;
[Act 33 of 2016 wef 01/01/2017]
“adoptive mother” includes a woman who —
(a)applies to adopt a child in accordance with any written law relating to the adoption of children; or
(b)has obtained a dependant’s pass for a child whom she intends to adopt in accordance with any written law relating to the adoption of children;
[Act 33 of 2016 wef 01/01/2017]
“approved person” means a person approved by the Minister as an approved person under the regulations made under section 7;
“bank account” means a bank account opened under the regulations made under section 3;
“benefit period”, in relation to a female employee to whom subsection (1), (1A) or (1B) of section 9 applies, means such period as she is entitled under the applicable subsection to receive payment from her employer at her gross rate of pay;
[28/2008 wef 31/10/2008]
[Act 33 of 2016 wef 01/01/2017]
“confinement” means the delivery of one or more children from one pregnancy;
[Act 33 of 2016 wef 01/01/2017]
“dependant’s pass”, in relation to a child, means a dependant’s pass issued in respect of the child under regulations made under the Immigration Act (Cap. 133) to enable the child to remain, or to enter and remain, in Singapore for the purposes of adoption under the Adoption of Children Act (Cap. 4), and includes a document evidencing that the application for the dependant’s pass has been approved;
[Act 12 of 2013 wef 01/05/2013]
“eligibility date”, in relation to an application to adopt a child in accordance with any written law relating to the adoption of children, means —
(a)if the child is a citizen of Singapore, the date on which the application to adopt the child is made; or
(b)if the child is not a citizen of Singapore, the date on which a dependant’s pass is issued in respect of the child;
[Act 33 of 2016 wef 01/01/2017]
“employee” means any person who has entered into or works under a contract of service with an employer in Singapore, and includes a workman and any officer or employee of the Government;
[42/2004 wef 01/10/2004]
“employer” means any person who employs another person under a contract of service and includes —
(a)the Government;
[42/2004 wef 01/10/2004]
(b)any statutory authority;
(c)the duly authorised agent or manager of the employer; and
(d)the person who owns or who is carrying on or is for the time being responsible for the management of the profession, business, trade or work in which the employee is engaged;
“estimated delivery date” means the estimated delivery date of a child as certified by a medical practitioner;
[Act 33 of 2016 wef 01/01/2017]
“gross rate of pay” means the total amount of money (including allowances) to which an employee is entitled under the employee’s contract of service, either for working for a period of time (that is, for an hour, a day, a week or a month, or for such other period, as may be stated or implied in the contract of service) or for each completed piece or task of work, but does not include any of the following:
(a)additional payments by way of overtime payments;
(b)additional payments by way of bonus payments or annual wage supplements;
(c)any sum paid to the employee to reimburse the employee for special expenses incurred by the employee in the course of the employee’s employment;
(d)productivity incentive payments;
(e)travelling, food or housing allowances;
[Act 33 of 2016 wef 01/01/2017]
“lost income”, in relation to a period during which a self-employed man or self-employed woman ceased to be actively engaged in his or her trade, business, profession or vocation, means the income that he or she would otherwise have derived from that trade, business, profession or vocation had he or she continued to be actively engaged in that trade, business, profession or vocation during that period;
[Act 33 of 2016 wef 01/01/2017]
“medical practitioner” means a medical practitioner registered under the Medical Registration Act (Cap. 174);
[28/2008 wef 31/10/2008]
“member” means a member of the Scheme;
“natural father”, in relation to a child, includes a person who is identified in the registration of the birth of the child as the father of the child;
[28/2008 wef 31/10/2008]
“parent”, in relation to a child, includes a legal guardian of the child;
“part-time employee” has the same meaning as in section 66A(1) of the Employment Act (Cap. 91);
[28/2008 wef 31/10/2008]
“personal representative” means the executor, original or by representation, or administrator for the time being of a deceased person;
“productivity incentive payment” has the same meaning as in section 2(1) of the Employment Act (Cap. 91);
[Act 12 of 2013 wef 01/05/2013]
“PSE account” has the same meaning as in the Education Endowment and Savings Schemes Act (Cap. 87A);
[52/2007 wef 01/01/2008]
“Scheme” means the Child Development Co-Savings Scheme established by the regulations made under section 3;
[13/2011 wef 01/05/2011]
“self-employed man” means any man resident in Singapore who engages in or carries on any trade, business, profession or vocation other than employment under a contract of service and derives income from such trade, business, profession or vocation, or such other man declared by the Minister to be a self-employed man for the purposes of this Act;
[Act 12 of 2013 wef 01/05/2013]
“self-employed woman” means any woman resident in Singapore who engages in or carries on any trade, business, profession or vocation other than employment under a contract of service and derives income from such trade, business, profession or vocation or such other woman declared by the Minister to be a self-employed woman for the purposes of this Act;
[42/2004 wef 01/10/2004]
[Act 33 of 2016 wef 01/01/2017]
“weekly index”, in relation to a male or female employee or a self-employed man or self-employed woman, means his or her number of work days per week determined in accordance with the Schedule.
[Act 33 of 2016 wef 01/01/2017]
(2)  For the purpose of determining whether a confinement referred to in Part III (referred to in this section as the relevant confinement) is the first, the second, the third or any subsequent confinement of a woman, any previous confinement shall be disregarded if, at the time of the relevant confinement, there is no living child from the previous confinement.
[42/2004 wef 01/10/2004]
[28/2008 wef 31/10/2008]
(3)  The number of work days determined in accordance with the Schedule to be the weekly index of a male or female employee or a self-employed man or self-employed woman, if not a whole number, is to be rounded down to the nearest half day or whole day.
[Act 33 of 2016 wef 01/01/2017]