Ministry encourages youth to get married, have babies amid M’sia’s declining birth rate

KUCHING (Aug 10): The Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development will continue to intensify efforts to encourage the public, especially the youth, to get married in order to increase the birth rate in the country.

Its minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said this is due to the country’s total fertility rate (TFR) recording a significant decline, with couples only having 1.6 children on average to date.

Although there has been an increase in pregnancies, particularly among the youth, she said, it is still insufficient to boost the country’s population.

“That is why our ministry, through the National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN), is intensifying programmes to encourage Malaysians to get married and be prepared to have more children.

“We know that by 2030, we will become an aging nation, and the birth rate gap is still too wide. Therefore, we need to promote various programmes for couples to marry and have offspring,” she said.

Nancy was speaking to reporters when met after the closing ceremony of the Health and Sexual Health Awareness Programme by Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) in conjunction with the Karnival Hari Keluarga, Kesejahteraan dan Kesihatan Remaja at Kampung Sourabaya Hulu here today.

She added that efforts to organise various programmes will not cease as they aim to see an increase in the birth rate in the future.

“The population of Malaysia is currently nearly 34 million people, and therefore, it is important for us to increase the birth rate.

“In this regard, we have many more programmes planned to encourage the public to respond to the call to increase the birth rate,” she said.

Nancy said that there are various factors contributing to the decline in the birth rate in the country.

“This is not just a problem for women; men also contribute to this issue.

“We hope that men will take this matter seriously and cooperate well with their partners in the effort to have children,” said the Santubong MP.

Regarding the programme, Nancy believed it can help parents to understand and address issues related to teenage pregnancies.

“Additionally, this programme can provide better education and access to accurate information through the website provided by Unimas.

“While we are working to increase the birth rate, issues related to safe sex need to be highlighted to teenagers and the community,” she said.