Characteristics of Older Households in Malaysia CST PERKKS2021 final.pdf
1. Characteristics of Older Households in Malaysia:
An Analysis of the HIES2019 Microdata
CHAI Sen Tyng
Research Officer, Laboratory of Social Gerontology
Malaysian Research Institute on Ageing, Universiti Putra Malaysia
2. Changes in Population Structure & Household Composition, Malaysia,
1980 - 2010
Indicators
1980 1991 2000 2010
N % N % N % N %
Population Census 13.9m 100.0 18.5m 100.0 23.5m 100.0 28.6m 100.0
<20 years old 7.1m 51.3 8.7m 47.1 10.3m 44.0 10.7m 37.3
20-59 years old 6.0m 43.2 8.8m 47.3 11.7m 49.8 15.7m 54.8
60+ years old 0.8m 5.5 1.0m 5.6 1.5m 6.2 2.2m 7.9
65+ years old 0.5m 3.5 0.7m 3.6 0.9m 4.0 1.4m 5.0
Median Age 19.6 years 21.9 years 23.6 years 26.2 years
Households 2% sample tape 35,069 100.0 70,888 100.0 95,564 100.0 126,579 100.0
Hh w <18 27,007 77.0 51,517 72.7 65,905 69.0 76,057 60.1
Hh with 60+ 8,625 24.6 16,194 22.8 21,203 22.2 32,236 25.5
Hh only 60+ 1,163 3.3 2,353 3.3 3,506 3.7 5,587 4.4
60+ L Alone / 60+ in sample 803 9.3 1,444 7.1 1,900 6.9 2,816 6.4
60+ L Alone / Hh with 60+ 803 7.6 1,444 8.9 1,900 9.0 2,816 8.7
Source: Dept. of Statistics Malaysia, various years
3. Household Composition by Broad Age Groups and Ethnicity, Malaysia,
2019 Source: Author Tabulations using HIES2019
Indicators
2019 Malay & B. 2019 Chinese 2019 Indian 2019
N % N % N % N %
Sample Size HIES2019 60,354 100.0 43,086 100.0 10,905 100.0 3,787 100.0
<18 years old 19,163 31.8 14,978 34.8 2,454 22.5 975 25.7
18-59 years old 34,162 56.6 23,830 55.3 6,278 57.6 2,367 62.5
60+ years old 7,029 11.6 4,278 9.9 2,173 19.9 445 11.8
Households 30% sample 14,551 100.0 9,819 100.0 3,118 100.0 948 100.0
Hh w <18 8,568 58.9 6,378 65.0 1,327 42.6 520 54.9
Hh with 60+ 5,022 34.5 3,131 31.9 1,450 46.5 336 35.4
Hh only 60+ 975 6.7 546 5.6 374 12.0 44 4.6
60+ L Alone / 60+ in sample 355 5.0 215 5.0 121 5.6 15 3.4
60+ L Alone / Hh with 60+ 355 7.1 215 6.9 121 8.3 15 4.5
4. Household Composition by Broad Age Groups and Geography,
Malaysia, 2019 Source: Author Tabulations using HIES2019
Indicators
Urban 2019 Rural 2019 Pen. M’sia 2019 Sbh & Srwk 2019
N % N % N % N %
Sample Size HIES2019 40,853 100.0 19,501 100.0 41,887 100.0 18,467 100.0
<18 years old 12,554 30.7 6,609 33.9 12,951 30.9 6,212 33.6
18-59 years old 23,761 58.2 10,401 53.3 23,802 56.8 10,360 56.1
60+ years old 4,538 11.1 2,491 12.8 5,134 12.3 1,895 10.3
Households 30% sample 10,034 100.0 4,517 100.0 10,333 100.0 4,218 100.0
Hh w <18 5,778 57.6 2,790 61.8 5,908 57.2 2,660 63.1
Hh with 60+ 3,211 32.0 1,811 40.1 3,677 35.6 1,345 31.9
Hh only 60+ 604 6.0 371 8.2 753 7.3 222 5.3
60+ L Alone / 60+ in sample 191 4.2 164 6.6 279 5.4 76 4.0
60+ L Alone / Hh with 60+ 191 5.9 164 9.1 279 7.6 76 5.7
5. Household Composition by Income Classification, Malaysia, 2019
Source: Author Tabulations using HIES2019
Categories
Hh without OPs Hh with OPs Hh only OPs All Households
N % N % N % N %
T2010,960+ 1,698 17.8 666 13.3 34 3.5 2,364 16.2
M404,850-10,959 3,711 38.9 1,756 35.0 148 15.2 5,467 37.6
B40 <4,850 4,120 43.2 2,600 51.8 793 81.3 6,720 46.2
Total 9,529 100.0 5,022 100.0 975 100.0 14,551 100.0
Categories
Hh without OPs Hh with OPs Hh only OPs All Households
MHh income MHh size MHh income MHh size MHh income MHh size MHh income MHh size
T2010,960+ 15,497.19 4.5 16,295.00 5.1 20,319.57 2.0 15,721.95 4.7
M404,850-10,959 6,458.07 4.3 6,413.17 4.6 5,904.64 1.9 6,443.65 4.4
B40 <4,850 2,848.09 4.0 2,655.33 3.3 2,135.71 1.6 2,773.51 3.7
Total 6,507.95 4.2 5,778.15 4.0 3,341.92 1.7 6,256.07 4.2
6. Household Composition by Expenditure Category, Malaysia, 2019
Source: Author Tabulations using HIES2019
Food
Hh without OPs Hh with OPs Hh only OPs All Households
Mexp %share of exp Mexp %share of exp Mexp %share of exp Mexp %share of exp
T2010,960+ 941.17 14.4 1,073.87 15.1 1,132.68 12.0 978.56 14.6
M404,850-10,959 763.57 20.2 844.28 21.8 745.97 20.6 789.50 20.7
B40 <4,850 576.54 27.5 594.15 29.4 481.47 28.5 583.36 28.2
Total 714.35 22.3 745.23 24.8 544.33 26.7 725.01 23.2
Health
Hh without OPs Hh with OPs Hh only OPs All Households
Mexp %share of exp Mexp %share of exp Mexp %share of exp Mexp %share of exp
T2010,960+ 117.70 1.4 204.53 2.5 204.99 2.5 142.16 1.8
M404,850-10,959 58.18 1.5 93.27 2.2 158.52 4.0 69.45 1.7
B40 <4,850 27.60 1.2 50.77 2.3 71.33 3.6 36.56 1.7
Total 55.56 1.4 86.02 2.3 89.23 3.6 66.08 1.7
7. • The number and proportion of older persons are increasing in the population.
Households with older persons are also increasing, from about a quarter in 2010 to
nearly one-third in 2019.
• Perhaps the more notable development is the increase in households consisting
only of older couples (empty nest syndrome) and elderly living alone.
• There is significant difference in the household age composition by ethnicity,
geography and income classification, reflecting broader fertility, migration and
general socioeconomic trends.
• So, what are we doing to help households take care of elderly family members? Are
our policies geared to helping families to care for the aged or are we incentivizing
only the middle? Social protection reforms from a life course perspective is needed
and a national household registry system is necessary.
• A silver economy can only exist when there is disposable income to purchase aged
care goods and services.
Key Message & Conclusion
8. RM 2,722.36
1 Male (15-39)
n = 279
RM 2,773.96
1 Female (15-39)
n = 112
RM 2,846.86
1 Male (40-59)
n = 237
RM 2,572.52
1 Female (40-59)
n = 181
RM 2,116.57
1 Male (60+)
n = 206
RM 1,711.18
1 Female (60+)
n = 334
RM 4,229.99
Married Couple without
Children (Hhh = 15-39)
n = 377
RM 4,168.20
Married Couple without
Children (Hhh = 40-59)
n = 626
RM 3,197.18
Married Couple without
Children (Hhh = 60+)
n = 919
RM 3,881.76
Married Couple with a Child
[<15] (Hhh = 15-39)
n = 522
RM 4,458.99
Married Couple with a Child
[<15] (Hhh = 40-59)
n = 319
RM 4,284.85
Married Couple with 2
Children [<15] (Hhh = 15-39)
n = 636
RM 5,194.58
Married Couple with 2
Children [<15] (Hhh = 40-59)
n = 356
RM 2,385.55
One-person Household
n = 1,349
RM 2,590.39
One-person Household (Male)
n = 722
RM 2,149.67
One-person Household
(Female) n = 627
Household Income &
Expenditure Survey 2019
(HIES2019) Microdata
Nhh = 16,354
RM 3,716.03
Two-person Household
(Spouse Only)
n = 1,922
Monthly Household Expenditure based on
Key Findings
• Economies of scale
across the family
household life cycle
• Household expenditure
declines with age
• Needs of children, adults
and the elderly are
different
