FOR SINGLES across Singapore, Budget 2026 is a vital one. Measures that cover younger and mid-career workers as beneficiaries include six months of free access to premium artificial intelligence (AI) tools allowing for earlier job upskilling, letting people earn more over their careers.
Seniors can see up to $1,500 CPF top-up for retirement support and the national Long-Term Care Support Fund is being topped up by $400 million for additional healthcare subsidies. This will also benefit those who are single and have less family support for healthcare and retirement needs.
PAP MPs, including Foo Cexiang (Tanjong Pagar GRC), Hamid Razak (West Coast-Jurong West GRC) and Alex Yeo (Potong Pasir SMC), called for further measures that benefit singles young and old during the Budget 2026 debates. (24-26 Feb).
Foo Cexiang on supporting single parents
MP Foo Cexiang wants single parents to be included in the support schemes and tax benefits which traditional families enjoy.
He brought two often-overlooked truths on parenting to the Budget debate: No one sets out to be a single parent on a whim, and single parents work doubly hard to provide for their children.
“I have met a couple of residents who are single and unmarried,” he shared. “They have burnt the candle at both ends because they tell me they want their child to grow up feeling like they’re the same.”
“Behind every child born to an unmarried parent is a story of heartache, tears, fears, agony and uncertainty – overcome only by a burning love for their child.”
But these parents are excluded from the most substantial tax benefits which the Government provides for families. They do not get the Parenthood Tax Rebate (up to $20,000), nor the Working Mother’s Child Relief (up to $12,000), nor the Qualifying Child Relief (up to $4,000).
“It is time to stop the differentiation between married and unmarried parents who take care of their children,” he said. “[It] is a reflection of a society that cares for each child and that does its best to alleviate the challenging circumstances they face at birth and give them a better chance in life.”
Hamid Razak on integrated healthcare for lonely seniors
Source: Hamid Razak / Facebook
MP Hamid Razak called for more integrated healthcare support across agencies.
In his medical practice, he has seen how lonely seniors often need help for multiple health problems, and can get confused about where to go for help.
“Health challenges today are rarely purely medical,” he shared. “A clinic visit may begin with diabetes or injury, but underlying issues may include loneliness, caregiving strain, financial stress or mental health concerns.”
“To truly integrate care, we must see the whole person, not just the diagnosis.”
He shared a real-life example of a resident in his Jurong Spring-Gek Poh division. After a fall, she was overwhelmed with multiple specialist appointments, social worker meetings, rehabilitation sessions and did not know how to obtain a wheelchair.
“Our residents are not struggling because help does not exist, but because help does not arrive as one journey,” said MP Hamid.
“As we move towards a ‘We-First’ society, we must design systems not only for efficiency, but for human experience.”
Alex Yeo on enhancing the Mental Capacity Act
Source: Alex Yeo / Facebook
MP Alex Yeo asked for enhancing the Mental Capacity Act. He wants to let the Public Guardian intervene for seniors on their own, who have lost mental capacity, but who have no viable person to make decisions on their behalf.
“I encountered a case of a senior who lives alone in a small terrace house in some disrepair,” he said. “No family member or relative was contactable. She was physically frail. Sadly, her mental capacity was also failing. She missed her bills and had her home’s utilities turned off. She was friendly one day and hostile the next.”
“Our Grassroots Team, the SSO, AIC and other volunteer groups rendered assistance in whatever way possible. And yet, no agency had the authority and/or power to intervene,” he continued. “Eventually, after close to a year, we were told that action was taken and her situation was addressed.”
“The Public Guardian can work with the Public Trustee to manage the assets of such seniors and then direct caregiving agencies to administer the care required,” MP Yeo proposed as a change.
Many older singles would benefit from MP Yeo’s suggestion. There were 87,200 singles aged 65 years and above living alone in 2024; doubling from 42,100 in 2014. Singapore’s super-aged status in 2026 means that this number will rise further over the coming years.
