By Aliff Haiqal Mohamed
SHAH ALAM, July 13 — Selangor recorded a total fertility rate of 1.5 children per woman in 2022, the fourth lowest after Sabah, Penang and Kuala Lumpur.
National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN) research director Adzmel Mahmud said the main factors for the lower birth rate is the rise in the number of women at higher learning institutions, late marriage, and family planning.
He said the 5th Malaysian Population and Family Survey revealed that though 86.8 per cent of single people in the country aged 25 to 49 want to be married, they aim for late marriage.
“Research found that men want to be married at age 32 and women at 30. This age is higher than the first marriage ages recorded by the Statistics Department in 2021: 29.9 years for men and 28 years for women,” he told Media Selangor.
Adzmel said to tackle the issue, especially in Selangor, LPPKN will hold a Selangor State Population Seminar (SKNS) on July 30.
“SKNS 2024 will discuss steps that must be taken to slow the decline of the fertility rate and prepare Selangor to face the rapid demographic changes.
“The seminar will be a platform for policymakers, academicians and research experts to prepare a plan of implementation via three cores: population, family development and human reproduction,” he said.
