06/04/2026

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MONDAY | APR 6, 2026

COMMENT by Dr Reazul Islam

M’sia’s unseen crisis of child poverty P OVERTY has been a persis microenterprises. There is a strong possibility that many children in B40 are exposed to multidimensional poverty.

incidence of poverty in Sabah is 17.7%, followed by Kelantan at 11.5%. At 6.6%, the poverty rate among Bumiputera is significantly higher than that of Indians and Chinese (1.5%). Furthermore, the relative poverty rate below the RM3,509 per month income threshold is significantly high, at 16.7% nation wide. Nonetheless, from a multi dimensional poverty perspective, even in the absence of recent statistics, the number would presumably be higher. What about the Malaysian children? About 26.4% of the 34.23 million Malaysians, totaling 9.03 million, are children aged 18 years or younger. Among them, 4.66 million are boys and 4.37 million are girls, according to the Statistics Department. Though there are no available child-focused poverty statistics in Malaysia, it is generally considered that if households are exposed to poverty, children suffer similar consequences. Hence, child poverty supposedly persists within the underprivileged families. What about multidimensional child poverty? Unseen multidimensional child poverty Let us excavate potential areas where MCP might persist. At first glance, we should look at people living in the B40, who typically have low value added and lower incomes from informal occupations, with limited income and low job security. They are manual labourers and unskilled workers in construction and manufacturing. Besides, they search for their bread and butter in the agricultural and primary sectors, including farming, plantation work, fishing and forestry. Furthermore, they are involved in informal jobs, including hawking, street vending, gig-economy jobs, and microentrepreneurship. For instance, about 12 million Malaysians live in this layer of the population pyramid, and 761,897 of them lead their livelihoods on

tent phenomenon in our society. Despite multiple ini tiatives, we have yet to uproot this ancient socioeconomic malady. About 831 million people worldwide are absolute-poor according to the new poverty line, which sets the threshold at US$3 per day at 2021 purchasing power parities. Among these under privileged people, impoverished children are the most vulnerable to economic shocks and adversities. About 412-417 million children are trapped in extreme poverty across the globe, which is about 19-20% of all children in the world. This is the picture of economic poverty, while the multidimensional perspective paints a different picture. According to Unicef and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, multi dimensional child poverty (MCP) refers to a lack of access to healthcare, education, a conducive living environment, housing, sanitation, protection and other essential conditions for a child’s development. In light of this definition, Unicef marked the number of impoverished children as about 900 million. In the low-and middle-income countries, about 118 million children are deprived of at least three of the six necessities: education, health, housing, nutrition, sanitation and water; and 17 million of them are deprived of four or more. Malaysia has yet to eradicate poverty; therefore, child poverty is presumable. Multidimensional child poverty might largely prevail in both rural and urban areas, disguised as such. This article intends to uncover that. Malaysia is a fast-developing country with a relatively low absolute poverty rate. Based on the National Poverty Line Income (PLI) (2024), which is RM2,705 (the average food PLI is RM1,236), the absolute poverty rate is 5.1%, with rural poverty at 3.7% and urban poverty at 10%. The

Single parents and child poverty The divorce rate in Malaysia is significantly high and has been increasing steadily. For instance, in 2024, 190,304 marriages were registered, and 60,457 divorces were recorded, according to the Marriage, Divorce and Rujuk Statistics 2025. That means about 32 divorces per 100 marriages. The average number of divorces has been 53,566, and the average marriage-divorce ratio has been 26.90% from 2016 to 2024. Of the 940,735 total single parents – including widowed and divorced individuals – 246,786 are men and 693,949 are women Children with single parents have a higher likelihood of experiencing a lack of care, proper childhood conditions and a conducive living environment. In addition, women’s labour force participation is 26% lower than men’s, and single mothers outnumber single fathers at a 2.81:1 ratio; hence, children with single mothers might encounter severe multidimensional poverty. Furthermore, MCP might exist in large families in rural areas and in low-cost flats in urban areas. Besides, households with low social protection might fail to address child protection and care. On the other hand, people with low academic attainment have limited awareness of child development and care. Children in such households might also experience multi dimensional poverty. If the MCP remains unaddressed, serious consequences await, including poor educational outcomes due to school dropout and irregular attendance. Besides, a lack of supportive learning materials and a conducive environment or digital access, will lead to lower academic performance.

Unaddressed multidimensional child poverty causes school dropouts and poor education. – BERNAMAPIC

the budget. Social protection programmes should be provided to facilitate access to essential public services, such as healthcare, water, sanitation, nutrition and housing. Besides, promoting decent work for parents or caregivers to strengthen economic security would also be considered. Accepting child poverty from a child-centric view is necessary, and a child-focused statistical survey is imperative. In this regard, implementing the Alkire–Foster method as a multidimensional child poverty measurement scale would be more effective and comprehensive. We should bear in mind that if multidimensional child poverty is addressed today, there will be no poverty tomorrow. Otherwise, poverty will perpetuate and be passed down from generation to generation. Therefore, effective action should be initiated now with no delay. DrReazul Islam is a senior lecturer at the School of Business and Social Sciences, Albukhary International University. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com

Similarly, children’s health and nutrition will be compromised. As a result, they would suffer anaemia, undernutrition or even stunting and thus be vulnerable to infectious diseases. On the other hand, intergenerational poverty would result from a lack of skills and opportunities. Besides, low self-esteem, stigma, bullying, and marginalisation will reduce children’s participation in community and cultural activities. Economic shock may have a lasting effect, too. The rise of MCP will lower national economic productivity because the affected children have limited productivity potential. They will need higher social assistance and healthcare costs. That will increase social costs. MCP may intensify gender inequality since girls from disadvantaged families may face a higher risk of dropping out and lower participation in STEM. Early marriage or early entry into a low paying job will have the same consequences. The government should take effective initiatives to eradicate MCP by integrating economic policies and

Education retains its importance in the Malaysian landscape for parents, students and stakeholders. The changes are fast paced with new developments in new fields of study such as cybersecurity, data protection, augmented and virtual reality, machine learning in education, digital education and artificial Intelligence. Leading the way are universities, who are invited to showcase their latest programmes, curriculum and content in our Education Focus for 2026.

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