MARCH 15 — Over the last weekend, the world celebrated this year’s International Women’s Day, with Malaysia hosting nationwide events for women to share their experiences and ideas.
The 2025 theme #AccelerateAction calls for urgent progress to be made in achieving gender equality, creating a world where access to rights or opportunities, including employment, is not affected by being a man or a woman. But can Malaysia really achieve this when we have not successfully addressed the disproportionate burden of care on our women?
When speaking about care, we typically refer to three main types which is childcare, elderly care and care for the disabled. Most of the time, the obligation to provide care falls on women. — AFP file pic
The women who care
When speaking about care, we typically refer to three main types which is childcare, elderly care and care for the disabled. Most of the time, the obligation to provide care falls on women.
The most recent Malaysian Population and Family Survey from 2014 found that 62.9 per cent of women outside the workforce cited family responsibilities as the main reason for not working. In comparison, this was the reason given by only 2.3 per cent of non-working men!
For many Malaysian women, they are caregivers that provide support to family members or even those outside their household without receiving any monetary compensation for their services.
Thus, they become the invisible, unpaid care workers, socially unrecognised and undervalued since their work happens in the privacy of their homes. ISIS Malaysia estimated unpaid care work to contribute RM379 billion in economic value, which would make it the second largest standalone services subsector after manufacturing.
Unrealistic expectations for women labour force participation?
Under the 12th Malaysia Plan, the government aims to increase women’s labour force participation rate (WLFPR) to 60 per cent. This appears attainable based on our progress over the past 50 years in increasing WLFPR to 56.2 per cent.
However, Malaysian women still earn lower monthly salaries on average and face higher rates of underemployment, a situation where highly educated workers are offered semi- and low-skilled positions. So, the question is whether women consider it worth their time to join the labour force instead of staying at home to care for their family members.
Are care services in Malaysia available and affordable?
It is also important to consider the landscape of care facilities that are in place to take over caregiving activities if a woman chooses to work. Despite various government efforts to spur the growth of the care sector, significant gaps remain.
Childcare in Malaysia is mainly private-driven, holding over 60 per cent of the market in all states, which raises the issue of the ability to access care and the cost. In 2023, it was estimated that the minimum monthly expenditure for childcare was more than RM500 per child, ranging between states from RM540 in Kuching, Sarawak to RM600 in Georgetown, Pulau Pinang.
Workplace-based childcare facilities, particularly those provided by private companies, also remain low in general. This would mean that working parents would need to factor in detours to available care centres into their daily commute.
Fewer than 10 per cent of children under the age of 4 in most states were enrolled in childcare facilities in 2022, indicating that most were cared for at home or by unlicensed providers.
These issues do not include discussion on the provision of care for the elderly and the disabled, further detailed in Khazanah Research Institute’s recent paper, Care in Malaysia: Emerging Trends, Challenges and Opportunities. However, findings indicate that there is also a reliance on the private sector and significant urban-rural gaps in availability, potentially posing similar problems to childcare.
Stop stigmatising care as a women’s and welfare issue
The availability of care facilities, quality control and enforcement of standards in Malaysia still has room for improvement, and the lack of options for working women promotes their choice to drop out of the workforce.
But we face the problem where the development and oversight of the care sector in Malaysia has historically had a heavy reliance on the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development (KPWKM). This leads to a stigma that care is mainly a women and welfare issue, receiving less investment and support.
In reality, this is a cross-cutting issue that has far-reaching consequences including in areas of human resource and economic growth.
Promote growth of the care market and expand government support
Ultimately, to create a nation that promotes gender equality, the growth of the care sector needs to be prioritised. The heavy burden of care on women needs to be acknowledged and addressed, not only by KPWKM, to open up more opportunities for their participation in the formal economy. Increased investment in enhanced caregiving capacities as well as expansion of support for both low- and middle- income families are important in establishing a strong care sector that enshrines availability, affordability and quality.
*This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
