- The Home Caregiving Grant (HCG) is a monthly cash payout from the Agency for Integrated Care for families caring for a loved one at home who permanently needs help with at least three of six activities of daily living.
- From April 2026, the maximum payout rose to $600 a month, up from $400, and the household income ceiling was raised, so more families now qualify.
If you have been carrying the cost of caring for a parent or spouse at home, this is one of the few schemes that puts cash directly in your hands rather than discounting a specific service.
Below is what the grant is worth in 2026, who qualifies, and exactly how to apply.
What is the Home Caregiving Grant?
The Home Caregiving Grant is administered by the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC). It replaced the Foreign Domestic Worker (FDW) Grant in October 2019.
The old grant could only be used if you employed a migrant domestic worker. The HCG is a cash payout, credited to your nominated bank account, and you decide how to spend it.
You can put the payout towards:
- Professional home care or home nursing visits
- Employing a migrant domestic worker, if that suits your household
- Caregiver training courses so you can care more safely yourself
- Care consumables and equipment such as adult diapers, dressings or feeding supplies
The grant is meant to reduce the financial pressure of caring at home, not to lock you into one arrangement.
How much is the Home Caregiving Grant in 2026?
The grant is tiered by your household’s monthly per capita household income (PCHI). Two changes took effect in April 2026 and both of them widened access.
The maximum monthly payout increased from $400 to $600, and the PCHI ceiling was raised from $3,600 to $4,800.
Home Caregiving Grant: what changed in April 2026
| Before April 2026 | From April 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum monthly payout | Up to $400 | Up to $600 |
| Monthly per capita household income ceiling | Up to $3,600 | Up to $4,800 |
| Payout structure | Two tiers | Tiered by PCHI band |
Payout tiers are reviewed periodically. Confirm the current tier amounts for your income band on the AIC website before you apply.
If your household owns more than one property, you will generally receive the lowest payout tier rather than the maximum.
Exact tier amounts by income band are published on the AIC Home Caregiving Grant page.
If you were turned down before, it is worth applying again
This is the part most families miss. If your application was rejected in the past because your per capita household income sat above $3,600, the ceiling is now $4,800.
Nothing about your circumstances needs to have changed for you to become eligible.
The same applies if your household income has since fallen, or if your loved one’s condition has progressed and they now need help with more activities of daily living than they did at the last assessment.
When are payouts made?
Once your application is approved, payouts are credited monthly to your nominated bank account, and they continue for as long as the care recipient remains eligible.
AIC will write to you with the outcome of your application. If the care recipient’s circumstances change, for example if they are admitted to a nursing home, you are expected to update AIC, as eligibility depends on them continuing to live in the community.
Who is eligible for the Home Caregiving Grant?
There are three tests, and all three must be met. It helps to think of them separately, because families often stumble on only one.
| Criteria | What is required |
|---|---|
| Citizenship and residence | The care recipient must be a Singapore Citizen, or a Permanent Resident with a parent, child or spouse who is a Singapore Citizen. They must be living in the community, not in a residential long-term care institution such as a nursing home. |
| Means-testing | The household is means-tested by the Ministry of Health on monthly per capita household income. Households with no income are assessed on the Annual Value of the residence instead. |
| Care needs | The care recipient must permanently require some assistance with at least three of the six activities of daily living, certified in a Functional Assessment Report. |
What is the annual value of your property?
Annual Value is the estimated gross yearly rent your property would fetch if it were rented out, excluding furnishings and maintenance.
It is determined by IRAS, not by what you actually paid for the home or what you earn. Eligibility for 2026 is assessed using 2025 Annual Values.
You can check your property’s Annual Value through IRAS, and you can review or update your household details for means-testing through the MediShield Life Household Check service. AIC sets out the current thresholds here.
The three-ADL requirement, explained properly
This is where most applications succeed or fail, and it is the criterion families most often assess wrongly about their own situation. The six activities of daily living are:
- Feeding, meaning the ability to get food into the body once it has been prepared
- Washing, including bathing or showering
- Dressing, including putting on and taking off clothing and any medical devices
- Toileting, including getting to and from the toilet and managing hygiene
- Mobility, meaning walking or moving around indoors
- Transferring, meaning moving from bed to chair and back again
The requirement is that your loved one permanently needs some assistance with at least three of these.
Two points are worth understanding clearly. First, “some assistance” does not mean total dependence.
Standby help, physical support or supervision to complete the task safely all count. Second, “permanently” means the need is expected to be long-term, not a temporary limitation during recovery from surgery.
Three examples of how this looks in practice:
- A stroke survivor with left-sided weakness who needs help transferring from bed to wheelchair, needs someone steadying them in the shower, and cannot dress their upper body unaided. That is three: transferring, washing, and dressing.
- A senior living with advanced dementia who needs prompting and physical guidance to eat, needs supervision and assistance in the toilet, and cannot select or put on clothing independently. That is three: feeding, toileting, dressing.
- A person with advanced Parkinson’s disease who needs support to walk between rooms, assistance to rise from a chair, and help with buttons and fastenings. That is three: mobility, transferring, and dressing.
If you are unsure whether your loved one meets the threshold, do not rule yourself out.
The assessment is made by a qualified clinician, not by you. If they live with dementia, our guide to dementia care options in Singapore explains how care needs typically progress and what support is available at each stage.
How to apply for the Home Caregiving Grant, step by step
| Step | Action | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Check whether you need a Functional Assessment Report | If your loved one has already been assessed under a severe disability scheme such as CareShield Life, ElderShield, MediSave Care, IDAPE or ElderFund, you may not need a fresh assessment. This can save you a clinic visit and a fee, and very few guides mention it. Confirm your position with AIC first. |
| 2 | Arrange a Functional Assessment Report (FAR) | The FAR must be completed by a qualified assessor, which can be a doctor, a registered nurse or a therapist. You can arrange this through a GP clinic, a polyclinic or a hospital. Call ahead: not every clinic carries out FARs, and assessment fees vary by provider, so ask about the cost when you book. |
| 3 | Check and update your household means-testing details | Means-testing draws on household records held by the Ministry of Health. If your household composition or income has changed, update it before you apply so the assessment uses the right figures. |
| 4 | Apply online through eFASS with Singpass | AIC’s e-Services for Financing Schemes portal is the recommended route because approval times are shorter. You will upload the completed FAR and your supporting documents. Read the terms and conditions before you begin. Alternatively, apply by hardcopy if you prefer. Email [email protected] to request a form, or walk into any AIC Link. Hardcopy applications take longer to process, so choose this route only if you cannot apply online. |
| 5 | Prepare additional documents if you are applying for someone who lacks mental capacity | This is a common situation with advanced dementia, and it requires extra paperwork. Check AIC’s guidance on this before you start, not halfway through the form. |
| 6 | Wait for the outcome | Processing can take up to a month because of application volumes. AIC will inform you of the result in writing. If approved, payouts begin to your nominated bank account. |
You can start an application at AIC’s eFASS portal, and SupportGoWhere has an eligibility checker if you want to sense-check your position before committing to an assessment.
What you can spend the grant on
Because the payout is cash, you can direct it towards whatever combination of support actually helps.
Many families use it to fund regular home care visits for help with bathing, mobility and medication reminders, or to cover home nursing procedures such as wound care, catheter care or tube feeding.
Others use it for part-time caregiver support during working hours, or to fund a short break through respite care.
Other caregiver grants you may be able to claim at the same time
The HCG is not the only support available, and in most cases it can be held alongside other schemes provided you meet the criteria for each.
Caregiver support schemes at a glance
| Scheme | What it covers | Can it run alongside HCG? |
|---|---|---|
| Caregivers Training Grant | Subsidised caregiver training courses so you can care more safely at home | Yes, subject to scheme criteria |
| Seniors’ Mobility and Enabling Fund | Assistive devices such as wheelchairs and hospital beds, and certain home healthcare consumables | Yes, subject to scheme criteria |
| Long-term care subsidies | Means-tested subsidies on home care, day care and nursing home services | Yes, these apply to services separately |
| Home Personal Care+ (HPC+) | Government-funded, modular home care programme administered by AIC | Check with AIC, as this affects service subsidies |
| ComCare | Broader financial assistance for lower-income households | Assessed separately by the Social Service Office |
Scheme criteria and amounts change. Confirm current details with AIC or the administering agency.
For a fuller picture of what care costs in Singapore and which subsidies apply to which service, see our guide to elderly care costs, options and subsidies.
What to do if your application is rejected
A rejection is not always the end of the matter, and it is worth understanding why it happened. The most common reasons are:
- The Functional Assessment Report certified fewer than three activities of daily living. This is the most frequent cause.
- Household per capita income was assessed above the ceiling.
- The care recipient was in institutional long-term care at the time of assessment.
- The application or supporting documents were incomplete.
Your options depend on the reason. If your loved one’s condition has since deteriorated, a fresh Functional Assessment Report may certify additional activities of daily living.
If income was the barrier and you applied before April 2026, the raised ceiling may now put you within range. If household records were out of date at the time of assessment, update them and reapply.
Frequently asked questions
How do I qualify for the Home Caregiving Grant?
Your loved one must be a Singapore Citizen or an eligible Permanent Resident living in the community, your household must fall within the means-testing threshold, and a Functional Assessment Report must certify that they permanently need assistance with at least three of the six activities of daily living.
How much is the Home Caregiving Grant?
From April 2026 the maximum payout is $600 a month, up from $400. The amount you receive depends on your monthly per capita household income band. Confirm the current tier amounts on the AIC website.
Does the Singapore government give grants to caregivers?
Yes. The Home Caregiving Grant is the main cash payout for families caring at home. Alongside it are the Caregivers Training Grant, the Seniors’ Mobility and Enabling Fund, and means-tested subsidies on home care, day care and nursing home services.
Who can complete a Functional Assessment Report?
A doctor, a registered nurse or a therapist. You can arrange one through a GP clinic, a polyclinic or a hospital. Confirm that the clinic performs FARs and ask about the assessment fee when you book, as this varies between providers.
How long does the application take?
Online applications through eFASS can take up to a month to process because of application volumes. Hardcopy applications take longer. AIC will notify you of the outcome in writing, and payouts begin after approval.
Can I get the grant if I already employ a domestic helper?
Yes. The grant was originally tied to employing a migrant domestic worker, but since 2019 it has been a cash payout you can use as you see fit. Having a helper neither qualifies nor disqualifies you.
Can I receive other caregiver grants at the same time?
In most cases yes, provided you meet the eligibility criteria for each scheme separately. Check the terms of each grant, and speak to AIC if you are unsure how two schemes interact.
What if my application is rejected?
Find out the reason first. A fresh assessment may help if your loved one’s condition has progressed, and the April 2026 increase to the income ceiling means some previously ineligible households now qualify. A medical social worker or an AIC Link can advise on alternatives.
Caring for someone at home is easier when you are not doing all of it alone. Homage matches families with trained local Care Professionals and licensed nurses, bookable by the hour with no long-term commitment, and our care advisors can talk you through the subsidies and grants you may be entitled to. Speak to a Homage care advisor.
References
Show references
- Agency for Integrated Care. (n.d.). Home Caregiving Grant (HCG). https://www.aic.sg/Financial-Assistance/Home-Caregiving-Grant
- Agency for Integrated Care. (n.d.). e-Services for Financing Schemes (eFASS). https://efinance.aic.sg/
- GovTech Singapore. (n.d.). Home Caregiving Grant (HCG), SupportGoWhere. https://supportgowhere.life.gov.sg/schemes/HCG/home-caregiving-grant-hcg
- Government of Singapore. (n.d.). Caregivers, Together, for Better. https://www.togetherforbetter.gov.sg/lifestage/caregivers/
- Ministry of Health Singapore. (n.d.). Caregiver support. https://www.moh.gov.sg/managing-expenses/keeping-healthcare-affordable/help-for-caregiver/
- Agency for Integrated Care. (n.d.). AIC Link locations. https://www.aic.sg/about-us/aic-link
