Everything About the COVID-19 Recovery Grant, a New Grant for People Affected by COVID-19

Are you still suffering from income loss?

Have you been looking for a job for the past few months to no avail?

Are you desperately hoping for some help from somewhere?

Because if you are, we’ve got something for you.

When I say we, I mean the Ministry of Social and Family (MSF).

Here’s what you need to know about the new scheme that’ll start in 2021.

Everything About the COVID-19 Recovery Grant, a New Grant for People Affected by COVID-19

On 16 Dec 2020, MSF announced a new scheme called the Covid-19 Recovery Grant (CRG).

Applications for the grant opens on 18 Jan 2021 and will close on 31 Dec 2021.

The new scheme will support both affected employees as well as self-employed persons.

Who Is It For?

The new scheme is meant for lower- and middle-income workers who are affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Two groups of people can get up to S$700 per month for three months:

• People who are unemployed due to retrenchment or involuntary contract termination
• People who are involuntarily placed on No-Pay Leave (NPL) for at least 3 consecutive months

The following groups of people are able to get up to S$500 per month for three months:

• Employees who have at least a 50% loss in salary on average for at least 3 consecutive months
• Self-employed individuals who have at least a 50% loss in Net Trade Income (NTI) over at least 3 consecutive months, compared to their monthly average NTI in 2019 or 2020

Terms & Conditions Apply

The losses suffered must have started after 23 Jan 2020 from when the first Covid-19 case occurred in Singapore.

As the grant is targeted at people with lower income level, applicants must have a gross monthly household income of S$7,800 or less, or a monthly per capita income of S$2,600 or less before Covid-19 happened.

Employees must also be “economically active” before Covid-19 happened.

For self-employed people, they must have declared their NTI for 2019 or 2020.

Other than that, applicants must also show that they’ve been trying to get a job, or skill upgrade through the government portal, during the period of unemployment.

For self-employed persons, they must show that they have attempted to reach out to two new clients or businesses during this period.

How To Apply

For more information, and to apply for the new grant, you can check out MSF’s website here.

For those who need help with completing the online form, you can call the ComCare Call hotline (1800-222-0000) or email [email protected].

You can also visit the nearest social service office for help. You can find the nearest SSO here.

You can check out MSF’s infographic on the new scheme below:

Feature Image: joyfull / Shutterstock.com