Application period for Covid-19 Recovery Grant extended to end-2023, criteria to be tightened from Jan 1

SINGAPORE — The application period for the Covid-19 Recovery Grant will be extended by 12 months until Dec 31, 2023, and tighter eligibility criteria will be applied to applications from Jan 1 next year.

In a statement on Thursday (Dec 15), the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) said that the revised criteria would help channel support to families with less income and encourage recipients to improve their employment prospects.

Introduced by the Government on Jan 18, 2021, the grant provides financial assistance to lower to middle-income employees and self-employed persons who experience involuntary job loss, no-pay leave or significant income loss for at least three consecutive months.

MSF said that as of Nov 6 this year, it has extended support via the grant to around 31,000 individuals and disbursed about S$75 million in total.

From Jan 1, 2023, the income eligibility criteria for households affected by involuntary job loss will be revised as follows: 

• The qualifying household income, now S$7,800 a month or less will be reduced to S$6,000 or less a month
• The per-capita household income criteria, now S$2,600 or less a month will be reduced to S$2,000 or less a month

Also, the job search requirement for prospective applicants has been revised as follows: 

• Applicants who apply for the grant based on involuntary job loss will need to submit evidence of at least three job applications or interviews before applying. Currently, they need to submit two job applications 
• In lieu of the job search requirement, applicants will need to submit supporting evidence of at least three attempts in improving their business revenue or reaching out to new clients, instead of the current requirement of two attempts

The ministry said that these revisions aim to further encourage grant recipients to “proactively improve their employment prospects, and direct support to those who face more difficulties”. 

It added that the period for eligible evidence of economic activity has also been updated to require either proof of work for at least six months between Jan 1, 2021 and Dec 31, 2022 or declaration of annual net trade income in 2021 or 2022.

There is no change to the amount of financial support provided in each tranche of the grant.

Eligible individuals will continue to be able to receive up to three tranches of support under the grant. 

Applicants who receive a third tranche of the grant will continue to be able to receive further assistance with their job search from the National Trades Union Congress' Employment and Employability Institute and from government agency Workforce Singapore.

The ministry said that it encourages applicants to prepare their relevant supporting documents when applying via the grant's 24-hour portal.

Those who need help completing the online application form may call the ComCare Call hotline (1800-222-0000) or email Ask_SSO [at] msf.gov.sg. Applicants who are unable to apply online may visit their nearest Social Service Office for help. 

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article stated that the change in criteria for the grant takes effect from Jan 1, 2024. This is incorrect. It should be Jan 1, 2023. We are sorry for the error.