MEASURES to improve Singapore's social fabric, including helping low-income families and children, were announced by Finance Minister Lawrence Wong on Friday (Feb 18).

A scheme that helps second-timer low-income families buy a home will be enhanced, with more details to be provided at the upcoming Committee of Supply debate, Wong said in his Budget speech in Parliament.

The KidSTART programme, which taps community partners to provide child development support to eligible families with young children, is on track to support 5,000 children by 2023. The programme will be scaled up to support even more families thereafter.

Under a separate scheme, a more tailored approach will be taken to address challenges faced by families with children living in rental housing.

Wong also addressed the issue of healthcare, adding that Singapore's ecosystem must be restructured over the long term to centre the healthcare system on the patient. Closer partnerships between healthcare clusters and community partners must be built, he said, and healthcare IT systems must be integrated so information can flow more freely between hospitals and community healthcare providers.

"If our current healthcare expenditure, excluding Covid-19-related expenditure, continues to increase at a similar rate over the coming decade, we will spend about S$27 billion or around 3.5 per cent of GDP by 2030," Wong added.

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He also announced measures to support persons with disabilities, including an Enabling Masterplan 2030 that will be launched later this year.

To encourage giving, top-ups totalling S$276 million will be made to the Tote Board's Enhanced Fund-Raising Programme, the Charities Capability Fund and the Cultural Matching Fund over the next 3 to 5 years.

Finally, the One Team Singapore Fund will be extended for another 5 years to provide dollar-for-dollar matching for donations to support Singapore athletes.