Harsh reality: Muhamad Abdul Hafiz Mohamad Tasim and wife Suzilawati Sutrisno are not in a hurry to have children due to the current economic situation. — RAJA FAISAL HISHAN/The Star
PETALING JAYA: More women are achieving higher education levels and entering the labour force, which has led to a lower birth rate among Malaysians, say economists.
They said one way to address the lower birth rate is to have more amenities for working mothers.
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“As more women attain higher education, they spend more time studying, which will cause them to delay their marriage and subsequently have kids later while they pursue their careers,” said Putra Business School economist Assoc Prof Dr Ida Yasin.
Her comments are following a report by the Statistics Department that the country’s overall number of live births in the first quarter of this year was lower than in the same period last year.
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the number of live births for the first quarter was a 9.4% decrease to 106,386 births, compared with 117,413 births last year.
In 2021, the department reported that the share of women in the workforce was at 51.9%, tipping the men’s 48.1% share.
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Ida said while most government agencies have started providing childcare services at their premises, there was still a vacuum in the private sector.
She said more should be done to encourage the private sector to provide childcare centres at the workplace, “so that career women can balance between their work and being a mother.”
Increasing maternity and paternity leave would also help address the matter, she added.
Since January 2023, maternity leave under the Employment Act has been extended from 60 days to 98 days while men get seven days’ paternity leave.
“Another reason why couples are having fewer children is financial constraints,” said Ida.
“This is more prominent among those living in cities, where the inflation rate could be higher.
“There haven’t been many studies done on what factors are really causing couples to delay having children or to not have them at all.
“The financial burden could be one, but Malaysia is diverse so there could be several other factors at play as well,” she said.
Agreeing, Socio-Economic Research Centre executive director Lee Heng Guie said some of these factors could be anxiety over the higher cost of parenting as well as changing social norms.
“There are several reasons for falling birth rates, such as economic growth, improved education and access to better healthcare, including birth control.
“Other dominant factors are anxiety over the future as young married couples are concerned about the high cost of living and the cost of parenting (such as funding their child’s education).
“There are also changing social norms, like remaining single and young people prioritising work over having a family after marriage,” he said.
Both experts agreed that a lower number of births would lead to a reduction in the country’s productivity as the population gets older.
Lee said with fewer people available to replace those retiring from the workforce, the labour participation rate could be affected, which would dampen national output and productivity.“It would also result in a rising share of retired and old people, which would have profound implications for healthcare, budget spending and tax revenue as there will be fewer young people to pay income tax to support an aged society.
“A smaller share of the young working population could also mean a smaller pool of talent,” he added.
Ida said a smaller pool of talent would force Malaysia to rely on more foreign labour.
“We have seen this in other developed countries, such as Singapore, Japan and South Korea.
“As their fertility rates dropped, they needed to take in a higher number of migrant workers to keep productivity levels up,” she added.
