Demographics Malaysia: Living longer but fewer new births

Demographics Malaysia: living longer but fewer new births

If the fertility rate falls below 2.1, population will start declining sometime in the future

For population to rise, new births must be faster than deaths. That’s why 2.1 would be the minimum in order for us to ensure the population number is not dropping.

Why are new births so important?

Well… imagine a world where we have a HUGE number of people who are retired and NOT paying taxes and at the same time, a SMALL number of working people who is paying tax. On one hand, tax revenue is going down and on the other hand, spending to care for our golden population is growing, That’s double whammy and that’s why some countries actively pursue and allow migration into their countries. As example, Australia had a net migration of almost 550,000 in 2023. (Info Source: theguardian.com)

Article in themalaysianreserve.com Malaysia’s fertility landscape has undergone significant changes with a decline of 4.9 children in 1970 to 1.6 children in 2022, below the replacement level since 2013, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

DOSM said the transition is closely related to delayed marriages, where a woman chooses to plan a family at an older age due to education or career factors.

“The average age of marriage has also increased significantly, from 24.7 years (1990) to 28.9 in 2022, affecting fertility levels,” said DOSM.

“If the fertility rate continues on a downtrend, the size of a Malaysian family will also shrink in future, and based on the findings of the Malaysian Census 2020, the average household size in Malaysia will decline from 5.5 people in 1970 to 3.9 people in 2020, which will result in a population reduction of Malaysians.” Do read here for the full article: Article in themalaysianreserve.com

I contributed two new population to Malaysia

I have a daughter and a son and think I am okay for one more but my wife issued a statement stating that ‘factory is closed.’ Haha. Actually, this is not a laughing matter. The government has to be serious and ensure that we have policies in place to slow down this drop in fertility rate and if possible to increase it again. At the moment, monetary incentives implemented in both South Korea and Singapore to push for more babies are not really working yeah.

Now that we know just money alone does not work, then what else?

Well, perhaps it’s important to ensure people do not worry too much about their financial because when people think of a new baby, they also think of all the costs associated with this new baby. Milk… diapers… nursery… school fees… and when they grow up, then it’s university fees and more. This is why giving an incentive where the amount seems little versus the total of these costs may not work yeah. I have no answer to this, hopefully the government has some plans in place. I will be listening and waiting for that to be announced.

No new population… no need for more properties yeah.

Maybe currently we still need more homes since we still have so many babies and they need a home in the future. However there will be a time when because everyone has a home or is renting a home, we will no longer need so many properties yeah. So, when that time comes, who will buy properties yeah. Let’s see what will the property developers pivot to in maybe 30-40 years’ time?

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