ZALIKHA Mohd, who has been married for five years and has a three-year-old child, has always dreamt of having a large family.

But the harsh realities of a lower-income life and the ever-increasing cost of living has forced the 30-year-old and her husband to reconsider having even a second child.

Zalikha’s choice to hold back on expanding her family mirrors that of many other young families in Malaysia, whose family planning is influenced by their inability to provide for larger families.

This has led economists to fear the sooner-than-expected advent of Malaysia as an aging nation, which would put a greater burden on the state to provide healthcare for its senior citizens, with lower contributions from a shrinking workforce.

Last year, Putrajaya allocated RM25 billion for the construction and upgrades of hospitals and clinics. 

Another RM4.5 billion was allocated for the running of 340 1Malaysia clinics, 11 1Malaysia mobile clinics, 959 health clinics and more than 1,800 rural clinics.

The total allocation also included RM4 billion for supply of drugs, consumables, vaccines and reagents to all government hospitals and facilities.

A report by the United Nations recently cited that shrinking families in Malaysia will lead the country to become an aged nation by 2030, where the population of elderly will almost double current figures. The elderly is categorised as those aged above 60 years.

According to records from Malaysia’s Department of Statistics in 2017, the average family size had dropped to 4.06 compared with 4.09 in 2016. This number was even smaller in urban areas at 3.89 in 2017 compared with 3.92 the year before.

In rural areas, the average size of families was 4.68 in 2017 compared with 4.69 the year before.

“For just one child, the cost of disposable nappies and milk is from RM500 to RM600. I haven’t even factored in kindergarten next year, which will cost about RM500 a month,” Zalikha told The Malaysian Insight.

Zalikha, who does some freelancing work as a direct-selling agent, said the recent rise in fuel prices has led to an increase in prices for food and services, stretching further their thin wages.

Along with her three other siblings, she also supports her elderly and sickly parents.

“Groceries and expenses for my parents amount to around RM200 to RM300, the water and electricity bill is from RM250 to RM300 and medical expenses are around RM500 to RM600.”

She and her contractor husband’s plans for more children will have to be shelved until they find more secure jobs that would allow them to save.

Singledom choice

Apart from cost considerations, the trend of marrying later because of work commitments and other factors are also contributing to the decreasing size of families in Malaysia.

Nur Jaslina Ramli, 28, is still not married as she says she is too busy at work, the same reason given by her 31-year-old sister for choosing to remain single.

“It’s not like I don’t want to get married. I’m so busy working that I don’t even have time to find a partner. And even if I found someone, I’m worried about having to provide for children,” she said.

“If possible, I want to provide a quality education for my child, but the expense of supporting a child now is so high with the rising cost of goods.”

Both sisters live with their parents and help to pay for the household expenses.

The social media executive said her monthly commitments included car instalments at RM350, repaying her National Higher Education Fund Corp (PTPTN) student loan at RM500 and paying her insurance policy at RM173 a month.

She said other expenses, such as petrol, tolls, parking and other daily needs, reached RM1,000 a month.

“Women these days, even if they get married, need to work. Because it’s not enough to just depend on your husband’s salary. Especially for those living in the city, everything from rent to children’s goods are expensive. You can’t escape.”

Women, Family and Community Development Minister Rohani Abdul Karim earlier this year urged parents to have four children, saying that it was the “ideal” number to complete a family.

Rohani was responding to the declining birth rate in the country, following the fifth Malaysian Family and Population study.

“We can’t force people (to have more children) but we can encourage. The government, hopefully, will consider ways, but the reality is it is up to the couple to decide how many children they think is ideal,” Rohani said in Parliament in May last year.

According to Rohani, Malaysia will be classified as an aging nation when 15% of its population are aged 60 years and above.

Currently, those aged 65 years and above make up 6.2% of the 32-million population.

Lower tax revenue

Professor of Economics at Sunway University Business School Dr Yeah Kim Leng said Malaysia still has a relatively young demographic profile and will only face the full effects of an aging population when the dependency ratio begins to turn around in 15 to 20 years.

“With rising life expectancy and declining birth rate, the proportion of the senior citizens, those aged 65 and above, is projected to rise further but still below 10% by 2020. 

“Given the long-term nature and effects of aging on society and the economy, it is important to start preparing for the demographic twist when the number of dependents relative to working age population starts to rise,” he said.

Yeah added that aging nations face lower tax revenue with fewer working age population while having to spend more on healthcare and welfare for seniors, especially those with insufficient retirement savings and support from their children. – September 25, 2017.