KUALA LUMPUR: Young Malaysians still aspire to marry and have children despite economic pressures, says National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN) chairman Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim.

She said young people were not rejecting marriage or parenthood, but were facing challenges including high living costs, employment issues and housing affordability.

“Young people still dream of having a family, but economic challenges make it difficult to realise those aspirations.

“It is the government’s responsibility to create an environment that allows these aspirations to become reality,” she said at the National-Level World Population Day 2026 celebration.

Rohani cited an LPPKN survey of 3,625 Malaysians aged 18 and above conducted in conjunction with World Population Day 2025, which found that 90.9 per cent of single respondents intended to marry, while 91.1 per cent wanted children in the future.

Among married respondents, 33.8 per cent wanted a child or another child, with the average desired family size standing at 2.8.

However, 17.6 per cent said they could not achieve their desired number of children, with 20.5 per cent of them citing economic factors.

“This is why we highlight the issue to the government and private sector. One of the concerns raised is that getting married is expensive,” she said.

To help reduce marriage costs, Rohani said LPPKN had introduced a mass wedding initiative involving some 35 couples from Malay, Chinese, Indian and Orang Asli communities.

She said addressing economic pressures among young couples required a broader government effort involving employment, income and quality of life.

“This involves the whole government, not just one department,” she said.

Rohani added that LPPKN wanted young Malaysians to achieve a good quality of life alongside stable incomes.

Previously, New Straits Times reported that economic pressures, job mismatches and career challenges were driving young Malaysians to delay marriage, according to the board.

Sumber: NST