Baby Gloom Due to Lower Birth Rate

2009/07/26

Chai Mei Ling

KUALA LUMPUR: The birth rate is declining and men are to blame.
The number of children per couple is now three times lower than what it was a generation ago, and experts concede there is a causal link between that and the attitudes of men.
One obstacle to larger families, noted former Universiti Putra Malaysia lecturer Associate Professor Jariah Masud, is the traditional gender ideology.
According to the results of a study by the university, the people continued to think that housework and childcare were solely the mother’s responsibility.
“Our study shows that when women come home from work, they change their clothes and go into the kitchen. Men put their briefcases down, head to the living room and read the newspapers or flip through television channels. Sometimes, they ask to be served a drink.

“Women work to help men supplement the family income, but men don’t help their wives around the house,” said the family economics expert.

This traditional way of thinking, which is very much alive and well even in urban society, means working women at home.

“If there is a child on the way, the first question that usually springs to a woman’s mind is ‘who’s going to look after my kid?’” said Jariah.

The husband is not the obvious answer going by the number of women who choose to leave the workforce to care for their children.

There is a higher proportion of women in universities, but for every four with a tertiary education, one is not in the labour force. They usually stop work after having their first child. What is surprising and worrying is that this conservative mindset is rooted even among the young.

Jariah said her university’s male and female undergraduates had the same attitude.
This is a matter of concern as the younger generation is often perceived as more “open”.
The population demographic pattern has evolved to the extent that couples now opt to have an average of just 2.2 babies.

This is a far cry from the Brady Bunch days which, if this trend continues, looks set to be a thing of the past. Just a generation ago an average 6.2 children were born per couple, almost triple the current figure, said the NationalPopulation and Family Development Board. Demographer Associate Professor Tey Nai Peng of Universiti Malaya said if men played their part, women would want a bigger family:

“Women need the physical support.”
It was high time men were taken into account in human development programmes to ensure a balance, said Tey.

“There are women’s groups that aid in their development, but no similar bodies or organisations to help men improve in their work, or studies, and to play their role as husbands or fathers.”

The lack of a dependable, good and institutionalised childcare support system in the country is another factor discouraging women from having more than two children, said family development expert Prof Datin Paduka Dr Jamilah Ariffin. Unless they could afford helpers or had informal support networks such as grandparents, many married couples these days found it extremely difficult to bring up children in modern Malaysia, she added.

Jariah said regardless of the cost, the government should aid in setting up community or home-based daycare centres.

“We thought latchkey kids was a Western term, but there are such children here too.
Parents sometimes have to leave their children home alone because they do not have a choice.
“We expect people to take work home, but why can’t companies care more for their employees by having nurseries in the office?

“I know of teachers who worry about their children while at work. If schools are not sensitive, how can we expect teachers to give a good education to other people’s children?”
Jariah, who is also president of the Malaysian Consumer and Family Economics Association, said the nation was going to face an increase in social ills if children lacked adult supervision
and guidance.

The rising cost of living also means it is more expensive to bring up a child and this forces families to think twice before expanding their brood. When the country hit an economic recession in 1985, there was a noticeable decline in the birth rate, so economic considerations play a part too, says Jamilah, who is also president of the Asia Pacific Forum on Families Malaysia.

As most parents want their children to enjoy a standard of living comparable to theirs at the very least, they have to dig deep into their pockets for education, healthcare and other
comforts. Daycare services, diapers and milk for a baby can easily set parents back over RM1,000 a month.

That parents are eligible to get a tax exemption of RM1,000 for each child, and maternity leave up to five children helps ease the burden, but parents can always do with more.
Jariah said: “If you increase your hours at work, it also means you’re taking that time away from your children. I’d rather parents spend whatever they earn wisely and make time for their kids.”