Growing number of youth delaying marriage worrying, says minister

THE increasing number of young people opting not to get hitched is becoming an issue of national concern, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said.

She said the National Population and Family Development Board had recently compiled statistics showing that both men and women are opting not to get hitched early.

“It used to be a dilemma involving women who opted to defer marriage to a later age. Nowadays, men are also doing the same.

“The average rate of having babies nowadays is less than two per newly married couple, so we can see that even for those who got married, they do not want many children.

“We are going to hit ageing national status by 2030 if these trends continue.

“It is becoming a national issue of concern as our elderly population is increasing by the year,” she said.

Speaking at a sexual health awareness talk organised by Universiti Malaysia Sarawak in Kuching, Nancy urged young men and women to get married and “cooperate and make more babies”.

“My ministry wants to create a general awareness of the good things that having a family can bring to society.

“We want to see more public awareness campaigns carried out by all community organisations and educational bodies,” she said.

It was reported earlier this month that Sarawakian youth were not getting hitched quickly enough, not making babies at the pace of previous generations and their fertility rate was also declining.

To add to this dilemma, the number of Sarawakians hitting the 60-year-old mark is growing every year.

All these have made Sarawak the fastest ageing state in Malaysia today, said state Women, Community Well-being and Early Childhood Development Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah.

“My ministry is looking at these prevailing situations seriously as we need to prepare our people to care for a population with more elderly seniors every year.

“Right now, our senior citizens aged 60 and above already make up 15% of the state population.

“By 2028, we expect the figure to double.

“The number of babies Sarawak had annually was about 40,000 previously. Now, the number of new babies yearly has reduced to only about 20,000 in Sarawak.

“The fertility level is on the decline too,” she had said when attending a community event in Sibu town.

Fatimah said her ministry is carrying out a statewide programme to look into these issues facing Sarawakians.

Fatimah said the ministry is liaising with Swinburne University, Universiti Sarawak Malaysia and Curtin University in Miri to conduct a comprehensive census on the population composition and to work out detailed planning to care for more elderly people every year.

Sarawak has a population of some three million people, with about a million living in the rural districts. – August 12, 2024.