Action plan crucial for B40 women head of families

Among the vulnerable groups impacted by the imposition of movement control order (MCO) due to the unprecedented health crisis, households headed by women in the low-income group (B40) in Malaysia have appeared to be at a social and economic disadvantage relative to households in general.

By definition, women-headed households refer to a household in which an adult female is the main or the only income earner and decision-maker.

Unfortunately, there are no official statistics to display the overall percentage of women-headed households in the country. So, why does such an issue need to be raised?

It caught my attention after the release of Unicef-UNFPA study report conducted in May-June 2020 on 500 families living in low-cost flats (Program Perumahan Rakyat) located in the capital, focusing on the impact of Covid-19 crisis on the wellbeing of women and children in urban poor families titled "Families on the Edge".

Let’s go through some of the revealed statistics which can prove my point.

In this study whereby 40 percent are single mothers, majority of the women-headed households (50 percent) were expecting a worse financial condition in the next six months, 31 percent were uncertain while only two percent of the respondents thought their financial status would be better off.

In terms of unemployment among low-cost flat residents, women-headed households recorded a significant double-digit figure of 32 percent compared to the national unemployment rate of 5.3 percent in May! This was much higher than last year’s unemployment rate of 9 percent for women-headed households.

To make it worse, a large share of women-headed households lacked social protection – EPF and Socso – to help them cushion against economic shocks (57 percent) based on the data in 2019. For this year, the study had shown that only 21 percent of the total respondents who lost their jobs but with access to employment protection were female.

Furthermore, when it came to savings, more than half women-headed households were unable to save and even if 24 percent of them said they were able to save, half of them were only able to keep their savings for less than a month while 30 percent said it would last for a month.

For the children in this type of households, there remains an education barrier in the midst of the education sector transitioning to online learning during the MCO – 56 percent of respondents said that they have no equipment while 45 percent said they have no Internet access.

So these gloomy statistics based on ground reality suggest that there must be actions taken to try to cushion the difficulties experienced by this vulnerable group.

In the short-term economic recovery plan (Penjana), it cannot be denied that there are stimulus measures which have benefitted this group particularly the direct cash assistance such as childcare subsidies, Bantuan Prihatin Nasional (BPN) payouts as well as targeted one-off cash assistance for single mothers but these are all, again, short-term support for the group.

Implement wish-list

What is needed now is a long-term and sustainable solution for them to sustain their livelihoods and this includes putting food on the table for their children. But how?

A wish list was included in the report based on the respondents’ feedback with regard to the possible solutions – full-time employment, an increase in the quantum of assistance and other channels of long-term assistance.

Therefore, the government’s next initiative, perhaps, should revolve around this wish list and for it to be announced in Budget 2021 in November.

Using data provided by the Statistics Department, one way to go about it is by introducing a women-headed household empowerment programme targeted for the B40 group. This initiative can be spearheaded by the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development and parked under the National Women Policy.

It should consist of capacity building programmes to fully tap their potentials while providing them education such as upskilling and reskilling programmes, and entrepreneurship development programmes. Special working opportunities designated for the eligible recipients can also be provided through the programme.

Besides that, incentives should be given to those who are setting up new businesses and micro-credit loan requirements being eased for these entrepreneurs.

Finally, with the ability of the head of the household to earn higher incomes will the education gap for the children be plugged – parents can afford to purchase digital devices for e-learning or they can subscribe to broadband for Internet access.

This should be one of the action plans considered by the government and it could also involve other stakeholders. Hopefully, it can be as successful as the empowerment programme (Pekka) pioneered by Indonesia since 2001.

At the end of the day, women make a significant contribution to society and nation by earning a living for their households as an employed wage earner, creating jobs as entrepreneurs and holding big responsibilities in taking care of the children and the elderly.

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SOFEA AZAHAR is research analyst at Emir Research, a think-tank focused on strategic policy recommendations. - Mkini

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT