Malaysian Household Improving? What about family income? Individual Income?

If 10 workers share a house, then the sum total of their income is the household income - no matter that they have to share because they cannot afford to rent/buy their own home? This is 'household income' - and this is what the Malaysian government is using now. 16 migrant workers earning minimum wage staying in an appartment will mean an household income of RM16,000 per month??

Hence, household income will not be reflective of the true state of affairs, would it now? Before we were looking at family income - husband, wife and kids...that was a better measure of the reality of Malaysian families.

AVERAGE - well, one person earns a million and 99 earns RM1,000 will give you an average of RM10,990 - Wow, great...but the reality is that 99 have enough to even barely live in Malaysia where cost of living is very high

MEDIAN - Well, this depends on samples - let's say 100 samples, and you took 51 samples of higher earners, and the resulting median will give you a high figure..

The best indicator is the actual number of individuals and their earnings.. or family units and their earning. Tell us how many individuals/families earn RM1,000 or less, RM2,000, RM5000, RM100,000 and RM500,000 and more per month... that will be a trued indicator of people of Malaysia's well being...

Situation is also BLEAK because many Malaysian workers no longer have employment security (until retirement), which provides financial security and wellbeing for them and their families. Nowadays, employment are 'short-term' employment contracts - and there is little guarantee that people will earn more with age and increased family commitments(children, etc..)

RM1 in 2012 is today of lesser value...as the same Ringgit will get you lesser. Wages or income thus is no longer a true indicator - we must be looking at REAL WAGES and REAL INCOME taking into account the depreciation of value of money, something that today is happening really fast in Malaysia...

What is true state of Malaysia? 

 

Malaysian household income improving, says Khazanah research 

By ZARINA ZAKARIAH - 29 August 2016 @ 4:54 PM

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian households appeared to be doing better in 2014 compared to two years before that, said Khazanah Research Institute managing director Datuk Charon Mokhzani.

"Household income has improved by an average of RM1,141 monthly from 2012 to 2014.

Compared to 2012, households in 2014 have a higher median of RM4,585 and an average income of RM6,141 compared to RM3,626 and RM5,000 respectively.

"Gaps between urban and rural households, and between different ethnic groups are closing with the Gini coefficient (a common measure of inequality) improving to 0.401. 

"However, disparities in wealth (measured by EPF and ASB savings) are more pronounced than that of income and there is concern that many will not be able to save enough for retirement," he said during the launch of the Institute's fourth publication, The State of Households II today. 

It was noted that growth in household income is not driven by expansion in salaries and wages as nominal salaries and wages grew at a much slower pace of 3.3 per cent, reflecting a lower labour productivity growth. 

It was also stated that the source of income for the top 60 per cent of households which have become slightly more reliant on current transfers as well as property and investments. The median salary stood at RM1,600. 

"Malaysians are expected to live longer with life expectancy at birth is 77.4 years for women and 72.5 years for men in 2015 compared to 65.5 years and 61.6 years respectively in 1970. 

"Longer life expectancy and declining birth rates results in Malaysia becoming an ageing nation. 

The publication calls for balancing and prioritising public spending between the needs of the young and the old. 

"More women have also entered the workforce with participation of 53.6 per cent and peaks at 87.7 per cent for women with tertiary education," he added. 

However, there was a matter of deep concern that food prices have risen higher than overall inflation and price anomalies were seen in imported and locally produced foodstuffs such as vegetables, milk and chicken.
Read More : http://www.nst.com.my/news/2016/08/169122/malaysian-household-income-improving-says-khazanah-research

 

Monthly household income up to RM6,000, Khazanah report says

BY A. RUBAN Monday August 29, 2016

05:48 PM GMT+8

Women shop for cosmetics and face care products at a mall in Kuala Lumpur August 27, 2016. — Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 29 — Average monthly household income rose from RM5,000 in 2012 to RM6,141 in 2014, the Khazanah Research Institute (KRI) revealed in a report today.

The report titled “The State of Households (SOH II)” focused on three topics: household and food, women in the workforce, and population ageing.

“In general, we see that households are better off as the year also saw a higher median household income from RM3,626 in 2012 to RM4,585 in 2014,” KRI managing director Datuk Charon Mokhzani said.

Charon noted, however, that there were disparities in income levels based on location, with states such as Kelantan and Perak 84.8 per cent and 81.1 per cent earning below the national average.

Cities and urban areas were also more likely to have households reporting above average incomes, with 64.4 per cent in Kuala Lumpur and 62.9 per cent in Putrajaya taking home more than RM6,141 every month.

“Disparities in wealth that are measured by EPF and ASB (Amanah Saham) savings are also more pronounced and there is concern that many will not have saved enough for their retirement years,” he said.

 The launch of KRI’s Map of Malaysia which digitally maps data from the Malaysian Population and Housing Census 2000 and 2010, in collaboration with Town and Country Planning Department of Peninsular Malaysia, The Faculty of Architecture, Planning and Surveying, UiTM, Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA). — Picture courtesy of Khazanah Research Institute

This could be exacerbated by another finding in the report, which showed that average life expectancy was now 77.4 years on average for women and 72.5 years for men, up from 65.5 and 61.6 respectively for both genders in 1970.

On unemployment, he said there was also an above-average concentration among young Malaysians.

“Youth unemployment rate stood at 3.5 per cent, compared to the national unemployment rate of 3.1 per cent in 2015,” Charon said.

He declined to forecast, however, the direction of household income for this year following a continued global economic slowdown.

Moving forward, Charon said changes should be made to ensure that Malaysians are financially sufficient. These included redefining the current retirement age, strengthening preventive health measures and balancing assistance between the needs of elderly and the youth.

“Both, the elderly and youth need assistance so the government will need to be fair to both parties,” Charon said.

- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/monthly-household-income-up-to-rm6000-khazanah-report-says#sthash.LawzKK0J.dpuf