KUALA LUMPUR, June 18 — Being a single parent in the city in Malaysia is challenging, as you would need at least RM5,650 every month if you are raising two children by yourself in the Klang Valley, a new spending guide has shown.
If you have just one child, you would still need a minimum RM4,740 as a single parent in the Klang Valley, according to estimates in the Belanjawanku 2022/2023 guide which covers the Klang Valley and 11 cities.
Even in the cheapest location at Kedah’s state capital Alor Setar, single parents would need to have a monthly budget of at least RM3,660 and RM4,340 respectively to raise one child and two children.
What would a single parent’s monthly budget look like?
1. Single parent with one child
For a single parent raising one child in the Klang Valley, the biggest chunk of their minimum RM4,740 budget will go towards housing (RM1,000) or 21 per cent, food (RM1,060) or 22 per cent, transportation (RM770) or 16 per cent, which comes to nearly 60 per cent. Add on childcare costs (RM650) or 13.7 per cent, and that is about 72 per cent of the monthly budget gone.
The remaining 26 per cent or RM1,260 would go towards utilities (RM270), discretionary expenses (RM220), social participation (RM190), ad-hoc or one-off spending (RM180), personal care (RM90), healthcare (RM60), with RM250 to be allocated for personal savings.
To draw up the estimates in the Belanjawanku spending guide, a single parent was assumed to be either a man or a woman aged 18 to 40, and who owns a car, and is either renting or paying monthly loan installments for a house within 30km from the city centre.
Under the assumption that there is no domestic helper available and children are sent to babysitters, the Belanjawanku guide’s estimates for a single parent with one child assumes that the child is aged below six — with the childcare costs including babysitting, diapers, milk and baby food.
2. Single parent with two children
Again using Klang Valley as an example, having to raise two children would bump the minimum monthly budget for a single parent up by an additional RM910, to the total monthly figure of at least RM5,650.
Just like for married couples who have two children instead of one, a single parent’s biggest extra spending would be for childcare costs, with at least an extra RM500 to be spent.
If the same assumption is used just like for married couples with two children, the RM1,150 childcare costs in the Klang Valley would be based on the assumption of a younger child (needing more day care costs) and an older school-going child aged seven to 13.
About 75 per cent of the monthly budget will now go to just food (up by RM270), childcare costs, housing (unchanged) and transportation (up by RM10). The other categories of spending will see increases of at least RM10 to RM60, based on the estimates.
Klang Valley vs 11 cities
Compared to the Klang Valley (where costs would increase by RM910), a single parent living in the 11 other cities will spend between RM680 to RM740 more if they were raising two children instead of just one child.
How much cheaper could your minimum monthly budget be if you live outside of the Klang Valley?
For a single child scenario, the difference between Klang Valley and the second and third most costly cities of Georgetown in Penang and Seremban in Negri Sembilan is just RM280 and RM490, as compared to potential savings of RM1,020 and RM1,080 in Kota Bahru, Kelantan and Alor Setar, Kedah respectively.
For a scenario with two children, the difference becomes much bigger, where it will be cheaper in Georgetown and Seremban by RM460 and RM670, while savings exceeding RM1,000 would be in five cities (Kuantan at RM1,040, Kuching RM1,060, Kuala Terengganu 1,140, Kota Bahru 1,250 and Alor Setar 1,310).
The 92-page summarised comparison of the 12 cities in the Belanjawanku 2022/2023 guide can be found here, while a more detailed report which includes the methodology can be found here.
How many single parents are in Malaysia?
Official figures on the number of single parents in Malaysia are not readily available, and seem to be focused mainly on single mothers.
The Department of Statistics Malaysia’s (DOSM) report on 2020 edition of the Population and Housing Census of Malaysia — carried out every 10 years — does not state how many single parents are in Malaysia, but does record that there were 32.4 million residents and that there were 8.2 million households.
In the 2020 Census, 946,236 persons were recorded as widowed, while 393,429 persons were recorded as divorced. The census report does not mention how many of them are also parents.
Or to be precise, 252,287 men and 146,643 men were stated to be widowed and divorced in Malaysia as of the 2020 census, while 693,949 women were widows and 246,786 women were divorced.
On the National Population and Family Development Board’s (LPPKN) Malaysia Population Research Hub’s website, an April 2016 article states that the number of single mother families is estimated to have increased from 130,249 in 2000 to 235,240 in 2010, using the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry’s (KPWKM) statistics based on the census figures.
In the Single Mother Empowerment Action Plan (2015-2020), KPWKM said it had starting from the 2010 census defined “single mothers” to be women who are the household head and falling within any of these three categories (widowed or divorced/permanently separated and having living with unmarried children; husband is ill or unable to work and living with children yet to be married; never married but having children who were either adopted or born out of wedlock.)
The then Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Karim had in 2015 explained the importance of setting down the three definitions for single mothers to help clear confusion and ensure aid reaches them and their dependents, with the definition also resulting in the previous records of around 800,000 single mothers reduced to 235,240 after streamlining. (The 800,000 figure had been based on various differing definitions of single mothers and had reportedly even included those without children.)
In February 2016, national news agency Bernama reported that only 83,775 of the estimated 235,240 single mothers in Malaysia registered with the Department of Women Development which could provide them with assistance.
In February 2022, minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of economy Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed reportedly said the 2020 census showed that there are 910,091 single mothers in Malaysia.
What kind of aid can single parents get?
Under Budget 2023, the government’s cash handout — now known as Rahmah Cash Contribution (or Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR)) — will see money being given out to certain households to cope with living costs, based on their income levels.
For example, households — which includes married couples, single mothers or single fathers — with one child or two children will receive RM1,500 this year (if their monthly income is RM2,500 and below), or RM750 this year (if their monthly income is RM2,501 to RM5,000).
Those with monthly household income exceeding those categories will not get STR cash handouts.
To receive the STR handouts, those who qualify would have had to apply by producing supporting documents such as marriage certificate, death certificate of the spouse, or certificates for divorces.
