Quick answer
If your youngest is a Singapore citizen below 7, each working parent who qualifies gets 6 days a year, single parents included. Your employer pays days 1 to 3; the Government pays days 4 to 6. For a youngest aged 7 to 12, each parent gets 2 government-paid days. A non-citizen child below 7 gets 2 employer-paid days. You need 3 months with your employer.
The useful number: 6 days a year for each working parent who qualifies, when your youngest is a Singapore citizen below 7.
Your days in two questions
Assumes you have worked for your employer for at least 3 months.
Loading the official figures…
Who gets childcare leave?
Working parents, each per leave year: the calendar year unless your employer agrees otherwise. Your youngest child decides the days. Self-employed parents need 3 months of work and lost income.
How age is counted: Age counts by the birthday in the leave year. You get 6 days while your youngest is under 7 at any time in the year. Extended childcare leave is 2 days while they are 7 to 12 at any time in the year.
Your child’s age is counted based on the age your child will turn on his / her birthday within the relevant period. For GPCL, your youngest child is under 7 years old at any time during the calendar year. For ECL, your youngest child is between 7 and 12 years old (both ages inclusive) at any time during the calendar year.
The two edge years depend on when you first took the leave. A child who turns 7 this year still gives 6 days if you started in the year they turned 1. A child who turns 13 still gives 2 days if extended childcare leave started in the year they turned 8.
How do you work out your days?
- Check the age your youngest child turns this year, and their citizenship (the child’s, not yours).
- Check your service: at least 3 continuous months. In your first year, MOM pro-rates: 3 to 4 completed months gives 2 days, rising to 6 days at 11 to 12 months.
- Note the lifetime caps: 42 days per Singapore citizen child, and 14 days per child under the Employment Act.
- Plan the days early: unused leave lapses at the end of the leave year. Your contract may give more.
Who pays for each day?
- Days 1 to 3, youngest a Singapore citizen below 7
- Employer pays
- Days 4 to 6
- Government pays, up to S$500 a day including CPF
- Youngest aged 7 to 12
- 2 days, Government pays
- Child not a citizen, below 7
- 2 days, employer pays
Two working parents with a youngest below 7 get up to 12 family days a year. Leave does not stack: with children below 7 and aged 7 to 12, each parent still gets at most 6 days.
Baby under 2, or twins?
On top of childcare leave, each parent can take 12 days a year of unpaid infant care leave while a Singapore Citizen child is below 2. You need 3 months with your employer. With twins it is still 12 days a year for each parent, and at most 24 days for any one child. These days are unpaid.
Baby born early or twins? See Born early or twins: bills, grants and leave.
Check your days, then plan them
The Childcare leave entitlement checker gives each parent’s days. Map them onto the year with the School holiday leave-days planner 2027 (members only, free to join). Prepare to ask for flexibility with the Employer conversation template (members only, free to join). Stretch the days around public holidays with the School holidays + leave optimiser.
What the checker does not cover
Statutory minimums only. The National Day Rally 2026 announced one merged scheme for parents of Singapore citizen children aged 12 and below. Each working parent is to get 8 days a year with one child, 10 with two and 12 with three or more. Employers are to be reimbursed in full, up to a limit.
No start date yet, so the checker uses today’s rules. Adoptive parents and stepparents should check MOM’s FAQs. Disputes go to MOM or TADM.
Printables for this guide
School holiday leave-days planner 2027
The 67 weekdays in 2027 when a P2 to P6 child is home but most offices are open. Plan cover between parents, family and holiday programmes, and track leave.
Employer conversation template
Prepare a flexible work request with a plan for how the work gets done. Covers MOM's rules on formal requests and childcare leave, with a request to fill in.
First-fortnight caregiver plan
Who is at the school gate each day of P1's first two weeks, 4 to 15 January 2027. Add a named backup, caregiver contacts and notes for helpers.
Illness and absence notes sheet
Note the facts a doctor asks for, write a school absence note in two minutes, and track the childcare leave you use this year.
Know your days in three questions
Answer three questions. See each parent’s days, who pays for them and when they change.
Check your childcare leave →Frequently asked questions
How many days of childcare leave do I get in Singapore?
6 days a year if your youngest is a Singapore citizen under 7 at any time in the year. 2 days if your youngest is 7 to 12 at any time in the year. A non-citizen child below 7 gets 2 days.
Can I take childcare leave if I just started a new job?
Yes, after 3 continuous months. In your first year it is pro-rated, from 2 days up to 6 days.
What did the 2026 National Day Rally announce about childcare leave?
One merged scheme with 8, 10 or 12 days a year by number of children. Until a start date is set, today’s rules apply.
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Sources & assumptions
- MOM — Childcare leave eligibility and entitlement ↗
- MOM — Extended childcare leave ↗
- MOM — Pro-rated childcare leave ↗
- Gov.sg — Strengthening Our Families ↗
- MOM — Unpaid infant care leave ↗
The National Day Rally 2026 changes (8, 10 or 12 days) are not modelled until a start date is published.