During the nine year period between 1991 and 2000, the total population of Malaysia increased by nearly five million from 18.38 million to 23.27 million, at a rate of growth of 2.6 per cent per annum. The relatively high rate of population growth is a result of fairly high rate of natural increase, augmented by inflows of foreign workers. The number of non-Malaysians is growing at a rate of Six per cent per annum.
Consequent upon continuing fertility decline and increase in life expectancy, he median age of the population had increased to 23.6 years in 2000 from 21.9 years in 1991. The median age of the female population is slightly higher than that of the males. The sex ratio is about 107 at birth. There are relatively more males than females up to age 60. However, females outnumber males at ages 60 and above, on account of higher life expectancy, Regional differences in the age structure can also be observed. The median age ranges from 18.8 years in Kelantan to 26.6 years in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur. The age differentials across regions can be attributed to the age-selectivity of migrants, with those in the prime working age making up the bulk of the rural-urban migrants (Department of Statistics, 1995 and 2001).
The population in the working age group (15-64 years) has increased relatively more rapidly as compared to those below 15 as well those aged 65 and older. The proportion aged below 15 has declined from 36.6 per cent in 1991 to 33.3 per cent in 2000; while the proportion aged 15 – 64 has increased from 59.7 per cent to 62.8 per cent during the same period. The increase in the proportion aged 65 years and older has been more gradual from 3.7 per cent to 3.9 per cent. Consequent upon age structural shifts, the total dependency ratio decreased from 67.2 per cent in 1991 to 59.2 per cent in 2000. The age structural shift with relatively more people in the working age group represents a demographic bonus and windows of opportunities.
The number of persons aged 55 and older has increased from 1.5 million in 1991 to a little more that 2 million in 2000. Given the prevailing age structure and demographic dynamics, the number and proportion of older people will be increasing very rapidly. Between 2005 and 2025, the proportion aged 55 and above will increase from 10.6 per cent to 17.8 per cent. During the same period, the number of persons aged 55 and older increased from 2.7 million to 5.9 million (out of a projected total population of about 33. million). As in other parts of the world, older women outnumber older men. Moreover, a high proportion of the older women are widowed. In 2000, 12 per cent of women aged 50 – 54 were widowed, and the proportion widowed increased to 19.2 per cent among those aged 55 – 59 and almost one in three among those aged 60 – 64. Many older women are living alone, with no financial security and suffering from ill health. Given the current population structure, feminization of ageing is becoming a major concern.
Population ageing has significant implications on the communities, families and the individuals, in the context of social change. With increasing age at marriage, more and more people are delaying family formation such that many retirees still have to support their young children. This means that there will be fewer resources for the older persons to care for themselves. Financial difficulty among the older persons becomes increasingly serious as their needs become greater while their earnings diminish after retirement. As life expectancy increases, the families may have to cope with more that one generation of older persons.
Today a male and female retiree can expect to live another 21 years and 23 yeats respectively. With the shift from the informal sector to the formal sector, more workers are retiring at age 55/56 upon reaching retirement age. This has serious implications on the financial needs of older people as the social security is inadequate. More than half of the EPF members have less than RM10,000.00 in their account when they retire. The problem is further aggravated as most children, faced with the high cost of living, are not in a position to support their ageing parents. Moreover, with rising age at marriage, many retirees still have to support school-going children.
Population ageing poses major challenges for policy makers, in terms of increasing public expenditures on social security, health care and welfare. Efforts are being made to address the issues of an ageing population, with the formulation and implementation of policies and programs to cater for the growing numbers of older persons. With greater awareness through the media, the role of the community and the private sector in caring for the older people will be further enhanced.
The early sensitisation and consciousness – raising efforts of the government on the issue of ageing is reflective of Malaysia’s awareness of significant changes taking shape in the demographic process. One such change is the clear trend towards declining family size. The decline in fertility rate would result in a 2-2-4 family structure. Consequent to the decline in fertility and an increased preference to form nuclear households after marriage, there was a significant shift towards smaller family size. This scenario is definitely emerging in Malaysia. The Fourth Malaysia Population and Family Survey (2004) shows that average household size has dropped from 5.2 persons in 1980 to 4.9 persons in 1991 and further declined to 4-5 persons in 2004. As care for the older persons in Malaysia has traditionally been within the family system, further decline would ultimately reduce the number of family members available for care of their aged dependents. Care of the elderly within the family system may not be available owing to the fact that the extended family structure is slowly being undertaken by nuclear family. Such problems are compounded as more women participate in the labour market and with increasing mobility of young family members.
Despite its numerous challenges, population ageing also present great opportunities. The large number of older people represents a vast pool of human resources for national development, particularly as they are now better trained with rising educational level. Concomitant with economic transformation, there has been a shift from the informal sector to the formal sector with mandatory retirement age. The 2000 Population Census shows that about two-thirds of the workers are now working in the formal sector, and as such most workers would be withdrawing from the labour market at 55/56. Pre-retirement courses are being conducted to equip older people the with necessary skills to continue working.
Download : PopInfo Issue 1 2005
