ASIA-PACIFIC – KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, JULY 2011 – According to a United Nations report, Malaysia will reach the status of an aging nation status by 2035, with the number of people above the age of 60 reaching 15% of the population. This is no cause for alarm—yet.
Like all developing nations, an ageing society is a result of a declining birthrate, a global trend of late. Growing silver generation and shrinking child rate are factors that are bound to impact the economy and industries targeting households and children.
OMD Malaysia and Pulse Group PLC have initiated a study to understand the delayed marriage and child bearing trend among the young and mature adults, the second of Omnicom Media Group-Pulse Group‟s total of four thought leadership series titled “Tomorrow Now”. The initiative includes primary online research of 300 adults aged between 20 to 40 years across the Peninsula and East Malaysia.
“We are all aware of the impending trend, but many may think it is 24 years away and there is still plenty of time. However, we must realize that aging society is a phenomenon that needs to be tackled now, while it happens rather than later, when it may be too late”, commented Andreas Vogiatzakis, managing director of Omnicom Media Group.
Bob Chua, CEO of Pulse Group PLC added, “In line with our objective of continuing to stay ahead of the curve, we undertook this study. The report makes us understand the drivers of the change and how marketers can prepare to adapt to consumer changes in a timely manner.”
The study: “Honey! Who Shrunk the Household” was conducted in early July 2011 primarily to understand the perceptions and resistance of the young and mature audience towards marriage and child bearing.
The research revealed that while people delayed age of first marriage as compared to their parents’ generation, they have not lost faith in marriage. Singlehood is good, but 84% still long for a family of their own. The Malay population tend to marry younger, but both Chinese and Malay’s thinking are alike when it comes to factors governing the age for first marriage, i.e. financial readiness, mental readiness and “kid” readiness.
What is worth noting is that women evolve faster than men. While most men still chauvinistically perceive they should bear all the expenses of buying a house, groceries, kids etc., women have already outgrown the gender stereotypes. About half the women participating in the survey, expressed an intent to voluntarily share the household and children related expenses with men. At the same time, they expected men to share responsibilities and house-hold chores including cooking and childcare, that were traditionally categorized as women’s tasks.
The study found that educated women tend to be more assertive, less conforming, has more opportunities to discover and realize her true self, and motherhood is no longer considered to be the only feminine bliss. 74% of men and 68% of women agreed that women are more demanding and have higher expectation currently, with 70% of single women above the age of 35 still insisting on the same expectations on an ideal partner as when they were 30, without being particularly worried about remaining single.
Not only the young delay the age of first marriage, couples also delay the age of having their first child – 60% of their parent‟s generation have kids within the first year of marriage, while young people today want it two to three years later. Rising cost of living and limited educational opportunities for children are some of the main factors contributing to the declining birthrate. 66% of Chinese only aim to have two kids or less, but 76% Malays are generally happy to have three kids or more. That said, for the Malay, the percentages have declined by a 22 percentage from the earlier generation.
According to 2009 Statistics Book of Malaysia, there are 4.4 adults (aged 25+) to one kid below the age of four. Kids are at the centre of the family’s attention with parents typically willing to pay more for everything when it comes to buying for their children. While, this does not necessarily mean that kids will end up being spoiled, but they certainly grow up savoring good quality products, indicating that will become discerning consumers at a very young age.
