THERE is a prevalence of women and the elderly heading households in the B40 category of families who are also most reliant on government assistance, such as the national economic recovery plan (Penjana) during this time of pandemic.

The Khazanah Research Institute (KRI) report that provides this fact derived from statistics by Department of Statistics Malaysia also reveals that out of the 19.4% female heads of households in the B40 category, 72.9% were widows, divorcees or singles.

The call by Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff for “reapplication” by women who were rejected eligibility to the Penjana aid is a waste of time unless the criteria are changed to include women who are head of households but have never been married, whose husbands have left them, whose husbands are behind bars and whose husbands are not reliable to spend the monetary aid on household needs.

Persatuan Sahabat Wanita Selangor (PSWS) is concerned that those whose application for the Penjana assistance was rejected were women who needed the monetary aid five months ago and a reapplication, without the government first reconsidering its approval criteria will only lead to further disappointment for these women.

In the statement yesterday, the deputy minister also stated that 25,000 applications were approved while funds were set aside to aid 150,000 mothers did not reveal the number of applications that were rejected and the reasons behind the rejections.

PSWS is an organisation that works actively with women workers and have received many complaints that applications only entertained women who had marriage certificates and could prove they were divorced but in reality, many women are not legally married and many are also struggling to get divorced but they are the ones who are feeding their families.

They have been surviving on the goodwill of the public. PSWS urges the ministry to address these applications with a little more leniency and look into enlisting the help of the welfare department, civil society groups and associations that work with marginalised women to help make house calls to confirm the claims of the applicants and speed up approvals.

The ministry should also rely on the service centres of the respective assemblymen and members of parliament, heads of village, resident association committees and others who are grassroot leaders.

Engaging these individuals and organisations, the ministry should inform women who are applying to approach them to help validate their claims.

PSWS urges lawmakers who will be debating the Covid-19 bill to introduce temporary measures to lessen the impact of the pandemic before the end of this parliamentary session, to set aside special funding to assist women through this pandemic with special considerations to assist women in the care economy and their reemployment.

There needs to be a systematic assistance towards quality child and elder care to enable women to stay in employment and work in productive jobs in these times of pandemic.

In 2018, 60.2% of women who did not participate in the labour force cited housework, including child and elderly care, as the main reason for not seeking work.

The same KRI report questions whether single women can fulfil their financial responsibilities or take care of their dependents in a gender-neutral operating environment.

While the heads of households typically must ensure the needs of household members are fulfilled irrespective of their gender, the means available to do so may not be gender neutral.

While it was revealed in another KRI report that four out of 10 workers in Malaysia are not entitled to employment-related social protection and benefits, in his 2019 report, Professor Philip Alston, United Nations special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights noted that women in Malaysia shouldered a disproportionate share of housework, have an exceptionally low rate of workforce participation, are disproportionality stuck in lower-level jobs, and are paid less than men. – August 24, 2020.

* Irene Xavier is executive director, Persatuan Sahabat Wanita Selangor.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.