THE 2026 RinggitPlus Malaysian Financial Literacy Survey (RMFLS) makes for rather uncomfortable and troubling reading.
It finds almost a full quarter of Malaysians aged 25 to 44 postponing or altogether forgoing marriage or a first child due to financial constraints.
This latest survey flies in the face of assumptions that younger Malaysians are simply losing interest in marriage or parenthood. Earlier findings cited by the National Population and Family Development Board showed that 90.9 per cent of single respondents intended to marry, while 91.1 per cent hoped to have children.
For growing numbers of younger Malaysians, then, economic pressures are making aspirations of marriage and family harder to realise.
