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A Quick Fact About Women Living In Poverty

Poor In Malaysia

Believe it or not, women experience higher rates of poverty than men in Malaysia. In fact, this is also true globally.[1

This is not an article to shout power to the women or to raise the banner for gender equality, instead it’s simply to put the facts out there that there is truth and great advantages when we provide skills and resources to give women the tools to make a decent living. 

A nationwide study done by Khazanah Research Institute highlighted that households headed by women were more prevalent among the B40 group compared to those in the M40 and T20 groups with higher household incomes. 

More than half, 50.9% of these women in the B40 group were either widowed or divorced, raising an alarming fact that many of these households are dependant on a single income and single parent. 

Source: Khazanah Research Institute

With this knowledge, what now?

  • We know that women can be a driving force to get their families out of the poverty cycle. In fact from this data, women are the only driving force for some families. 
  • Are we doing enough to empower women living in poverty with the necessary skill sets and opportunities to earn a living and grow their income with extras for savings? 
  • Are there cultural barriers among poorer communities that we are not addressing when it comes to equal opportunity for women in the workforce? 

Help us to explore this topic by commenting below if you have data, stories and research to share on women living in poverty in Malaysia.

Contact us to improve on this list!

Explore our sources:

  1. OXFAM International. (2020). Why the Majority of the World’s Poor Are Women. Link.

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