Childcare Leave in Singapore: How to Actually Spend Your 6 Days

Childcare leave is the one kind of leave designed for exactly this problem, being at home with your child when school isn't. The catch is how little of it there is: six days a year, against roughly eleven weeks of school holidays. So knowing the rules matters less than knowing how to spend the days well. Here's both.

How much you actually get

The main scheme is Government-Paid Childcare Leave, which sits under the Child Development Co-Savings Act rather than the Employment Act: if you have a Singapore Citizen child under 7, and you've worked for your employer at least 3 continuous months, you get 6 days a year. The first three days are paid by your employer and the fourth to sixth by the Government.

Things people get wrong:

• It's per parent, not per family. You and your spouse each get your own 6 days. This is the single most important fact for planning (more below). It also cannot be handed over: MOM says you cannot transfer your leave to your spouse.
• It's 6 days total, not 6 per child. Whether you have one child or three under 7, MOM's wording is 6 days a year "regardless of the number of children you have". Across a child's whole eligible span it is capped at 42 days, which is simply the 6 a year from birth to the year they turn 7.
• The Government's half is capped in dollars. The days the Government pays are capped at $500 a day including CPF, so a high earner is not fully covered on those.

If your child isn't a Singapore Citizen, you're not on that scheme, but the Employment Act still gives you 2 days of childcare leave a year for a child under 7 (again, after 3 months' service), employer-paid, and capped at 14 days per child over the whole period.

The cliff at age 7

This is the part that catches parents out. Government-Paid Childcare Leave runs until the year your child turns 7, then it stops. In its place is Extended Childcare Leave: 2 days a year, government-paid, if your youngest Singaporean child is aged 7 to 12.

So the year your youngest turns 7, your childcare leave quietly drops from 6 days to 2, a two-thirds cut, right as primary school and its longer holidays begin. Those 2 days are government-paid and capped at $500 a day including CPF, and the age band is 7 to 12 inclusive, keyed to your youngest child.

The trap for families with two age groups. If you have a child under 7 and another aged 7 to 12, you do not get 6 plus 2. MOM caps "the total paid child care leave for each parent" at 6 days a year. The extended scheme replaces the main one rather than adding to it, which is the opposite of what most parents assume when the second child arrives.

If you have been leaning on those 6 days, plan for the drop before it happens: it is the year to lock in student care or a camp routine rather than assume leave will cover it.

When you can take it

Childcare leave is not yours to schedule alone. MOM says both you and your employer should mutually agree on a suitable time, and the leave is subject to your employer's approval, though employers are strongly encouraged to grant it for matters that cannot be postponed, such as a child's immunisation or school registration. For school holidays, that means asking early rather than assuming the dates you want.

How to spend it well

Six days is little, so placement is everything.

• Stagger it, don't stack it. The biggest mistake is both parents taking the same days off together. Take different days, and two parents' 6 days each cover far more of the holiday weekdays between you. Used back-to-back and staggered, that's over two weeks of cover from childcare leave alone, before you touch annual leave. The Leave Optimizer helps you see which days stretch furthest.
• Spend it before it lapses. Childcare leave cannot be carried forward and cannot be encashed. It lapses at the end of each 12-month period, and that period can be any 12 months you agree with your employer, not necessarily the calendar year. Check which yours is. If it does run with the calendar year, the December holidays are the place to spend what is left.
• Aim it at the crunch. You don't need it for the March or September week; those are short. Save it for the June and year-end breaks, where the childcare gap is widest.
• Mind a job change. Government-Paid Childcare Leave is pro-rated to your length of employment, and MOM says unused leave does not carry over to a new employer. A move in the second half of the year can leave you with only a few days.

Where childcare leave fits

Six days each, a fortnight if you stagger it, still leaves most of the holidays to cover. Childcare leave is the first and cheapest lever, not the whole answer; after it come flexi-work days, student care, ActiveSG and camps. The full playbook is in how to cover the school holidays, and the official rules are on Made For Families and MOM.

Common questions

How many days of childcare leave do I get in Singapore? 6 days a year per working parent of a Singapore Citizen child under 7, after 3 months' service: the first three paid by your employer and the fourth to sixth by the Government, capped at $500 a day including CPF. It becomes 2 days of extended childcare leave once your youngest citizen child is aged 7 to 12. For a non-citizen child under 7, it is 2 days under the Employment Act.

I have a child under 7 and one in primary school. Do I get 8 days? No. MOM caps the total paid childcare leave for each parent at 6 days a year, so the extended scheme replaces the main one rather than stacking on top of it.

Do both parents get childcare leave? Yes, each parent has their own 6-day entitlement, and it cannot be transferred to the other. Taking different days from each other is the way to cover the most of the holidays.

Can I carry forward or cash out unused childcare leave? No. It cannot be carried forward or encashed, and it lapses at the end of each 12-month period agreed with your employer, which need not be the calendar year.

Can my employer refuse my childcare leave? It is subject to your employer's approval and the timing should be agreed between you, but MOM strongly encourages employers to grant it for things that cannot be postponed, such as immunisation or school registration.

Does it change when my child starts primary school? Yes, and it's the thing to plan for: it drops from 6 days to 2 the year your youngest turns 7, just as the longer primary-school holidays arrive.