PETALING JAYA: The National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN) has recently underscored several issues that Malaysians currently face.
According to LPPKN, issues the people face include a high cost of living, needing to work multiple jobs to raise household income, increasing expenses in raising children as well as having less family time and gadget addiction.
The board said its findings are based on its own online survey with 5,430 respondents aged 18 and above between November 7 and 30, reportedly part of the 2024 National Family Month celebrations, according to the New Straits Times.
The survey shows 97% of respondents agree how the high cost of living was a huge burden for families together with 71.6% impacted by the rising costs of raising children.
Additionally, 7.6% of participants believe married couples should consider being childfree.
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In the survey, it is said that 41.8% of respondents struggle to spend enough time with their families, citing work commitments, due to the rising cost of living, spending an average of 7.5 hours with their family, increasing to 13.4 hours on weekends.
LPPKN’s Population and Family Research Division director, Adzmel Mahmud noted that long-distance relationships and restrictions from work are the cause of limited family time.
“Additionally, many breadwinners take on dual jobs to support their families, leaving little time for loved ones,” he was quoted as saying.
He also said 62.2% of respondents cited pressures related to work as the main cause of insufficient family time while 16.5% identified time management issues and 8.7% identified long-distance relationships.
Furthermore, 38.9% of respondents have multiple jobs, said to be among the top five primary hurdles families in the country currently face
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Another challenge faced by Malaysians is an addiction to gadgets with 33.2% of respondents highlighting the matter.
When it comes to family activities, 61.3% of participants say the top family activity is eating together daily, followed by family gatherings at 51.6% and weekly recreational activities (32.1%).
