{"id":35686,"date":"2018-09-14T11:55:41","date_gmt":"2018-09-14T03:55:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/?p=35686"},"modified":"2020-07-07T10:23:30","modified_gmt":"2020-07-07T02:23:30","slug":"malaysia-declining-fertility-rate-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/malaysia-declining-fertility-rate-2018","title":{"rendered":"Malaysia\u2019s Fertility Rate Is The Lowest In 55 Years. We Ask Malaysians Why."},"content":{"rendered":"

Malaysia was recently hit with the news that our national fertility rate is projected to decline to the lowest level in the last 55 years<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Malaysia\u2019s Selected Demo\u00adgraphic Indicator 2018 noted that only 15.8 births are expected for every 1,000 people, which is lower than the 16.1 recorded last year. In addition to that, the overall fertility rate of Malaysian women aged 15 to 49 is estimated at 1.9 children, which is worrying because it falls way below the appropriate replacement level.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t only happening in Malaysia. Stratfor Worldview<\/a> notes that a total of 59 countries have a total fertility rate below the sustaining level. Back in May, BBC reported that US birth rates<\/a> have dropped to\u00a0the\u00a0lowest level since 1987, attributing it to a cultural shift where women delay motherhood. Countries like Russia<\/a>, South Korea<\/a>, and the United Arab Emirates<\/a> are also faced with declining birth rates. The source of the declining birth rates are all generally attributed to urbanisation, cultural shifts, and increased education and work opportunities for women.<\/p>\n

However, according to Prof Datuk Dr John Antony Xavier, principal fellow at the Graduate School of Business in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, the decline in fertility rate in Malaysia stems from high cost of living.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the cost of living, families tend to limit the number of children so that they can provide better education and quality of life,\u201d he was quoted as saying. If this goes on, he added, we may have to completely rely on foreign labour – or even robots – to become gainfully employed.<\/p>\n

We reached out to a few Malaysians to get their perspective on the declining fertility rates in Malaysia, and all their answers seem to echo Prof Datuk Dr John Antony Xavier\u2019s comments.<\/p>\n

Here are a few people we spoke to:<\/p>\n

Dashran, 25, Film Critic at MovieDash.com<\/div>
<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, I\u2019m not making enough money to start a family. If I start earning like RM6,000 to RM8,000 in the next 2 years, then I\u2019ll consider having kids.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf my future wife and I can bring in a combined salary of RM10 to RM12k, then I think we can have a maximum of two kids. But I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll want more than two kids even if I\u2019m a millionaire, it\u2019s too much work. I can barely take care of a goldfish!<\/p>\n

\u201cIt also comes down to quality. Every kid you raise, you want to give them the best education and etc. I feel the more you have, like seven kids for example, not every one of them is going to receive the same amount of attention, and that\u2019s not good.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>\n

Dharshini, 30, Mother & Entrepreneur<\/div>
<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a baby is definitely not cheap. My husband and I planned this out during the nine-month period we had. One child is not much of a pinch at the moment, and plus she\u2019s only one. But I also have my mother-in-law helping out, so I guess that helps to reduce the cost,\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI may have another baby in a few years, but anything more than that is not practical. Everything is expensive, and housing loan itself can come up to RM3k every month. Having three kids or more will complicate things as you\u2019ve got to look into providing them with the best of everything – including clothes, college, and etc. Plus, most Malaysians tend to do more than one job for a living, so there\u2019s that too. I think I won\u2019t be able to provide a quality life for my kids if I have too many of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>\n

Vinnie Tan, 28, Insurance Agent<\/div>
<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy is the birth rate declining? Because people are busy so they have no time to date and thus, no time to get married, and hence no kids. That\u2019s my theory.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hitting 30 soon, but I don\u2019t think I\u2019m ready for a family now. I\u2019m still settling in with my job and looking to advance further. Some of my peers are making RM8k to RM10k, so until I start earning a similar figure, I probably won\u2019t have kids,\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCost of living is high in KL, it\u2019s difficult to even support your ownself, so I can\u2019t think of kids yet. I might consider having kids around 32 or so. Even then, I\u2019ll have maybe one kid, or two at most. I cannot imagine dealing with more than two kids. I assume my partner and I will be working full time, so we\u2019ll be quite busy. Also, you have to save up for the kid\u2019s education and all, and it\u2019s getting more and more expensive these days. Two is as far as I\u2019d go.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>\n

Ashfar, 27, Sales Executive, Wants Five Kids<\/div>
<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s mostly the increasing costs and the barely increasing salary. They have barely enough to keep themselves afloat and the cost to raise a child is not cheap. But it could also be a whole lot of other reasons, like lack of maturity, don’t want to have extra responsibility, don’t want to take away time for other aspects of life to commit to children and all that.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>\n

To conclude, it seems like the biggest concern among young Malaysians is time and money. They prefer quality over quantity, so they resort to limiting their number of kids to make sure they provide them with the best options available.<\/p>\n

Some governments recognise this concern and have taken steps to alleviate the problem. In Korea, for example, the government has resorted to offering free childcare until the age of five, as well as cash payouts to pregnant women. In Selangor, the state government is offering RM1,000 wedding incentive for couples who marry before the age of 35. But it that enough to reverse the declining fertility rate in the country?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Time? Money issues? We ask Malaysians why they’re not having kids. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":35688,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[256],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Is The Fertility Rate In Malaysia Declining So Badly?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Malaysia\u2019s national fertility rate is projected to decline to the lowest level in 55 years. 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