COVID-19 Support Grant for People Who’ve Lost Their Jobs or Suffered Pay Cut Extended to Dec 2020

Previously, the government came up with the Covid-19 Support Grant which will give a bit of financial help to Singaporeans who have lost their jobs or had a significant pay cut.

They even extended it to people who are on no-pay leave because having a job on paper is like having money in CPF; it can’t stop you from starving.

Well, it seems like the Covid-19 Support Grant is due for another extension.

Extension Of Covid-19 Support Grant

Applications for the Covid-19 Support Grant started in May 2020. It was supposed to end after 30 Sep 2020 and people who’ve successfully applied can get up to $800 per month for three months.

That’s before DPM Heng Swee Keat got onto the stage and started talking about additional help for Singaporeans.

Commenting that over S$90 million has been given out so far to 60,000 residents so far, he announced that the grant will be extended until Dec 2020 due to the uncertainty of the economy.

It’s Not Automatic

Now, if you’re on the grant already and you’re thinking your entry in the system will automatically renew, think again.

Both new and existing applicants can apply for the Covid-19 Support Grant from 1 Oct 2020.

For those who are applying under the “lost job due to Covid-19” criteria, you must show that you’ve either been:

• trying to look for a job after getting laid off
• or have been going for skills training and development

Not many details are known yet and the Ministry of Social and Family (MSF) will announce more details early next month.

Other Measures That Will Help Individual

In his 17 Aug statement, DPM Heng also highlighted two other measures that can potentially help Singaporeans.

The first is the Workfare Special Payment.

Previously, it was announced that Singaporeans on the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) will receive a one-time S$3,000 special payment to tide over this difficult period.

However, in order to qualify, you must be on WIS for 2019.

After 17 Aug, however, it was announced that the scheme will be expanded to include those who are on WIS this year.

Another measure is the creation of ‘tourism credits’ for Singaporeans like you and me called the “SingapoRediscovers Vouchers”.

Basically, instead of paying out of our own wallet for expensive coke at Sentosa, we can use the vouchers to pay for it instead.

Of course, that’s just an example and nobody knows the details yet because the Ministry of Trade and Industry will do the big reveal next month.