Malaysians having fewer children

Malay Mail PUTRAJAYA: Malaysians are having fewer children — from an average of three children a family in 2000 to 2.2 children in 2010.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop, in making public the National Census Report 2010 here yesterday, said the birth rate trend had been on the decline since 2000.
He said economic reasons, women getting married late, and education and career were among the factors leading to the declining birth rate.
“If you look at the figures, an average of 2.2 children a family means we are producing replacement members of society," he said.
"The government is not worried about this though as 67.5 per cent of Malaysians are within the productive age of between 15 and 64 years old.
“We estimate Malaysia will have its maximum population of 57 million by 2090. The reason for the decline is probably due to women having the option of choosing how many children they want to have and also technology and contraceptives to ensure they achieve their target."
On top of that, the present marrying age for women is 26 compared to 23 in 2000, making it another contributing factor to the fall in the birth rate.
Nor Mohamed said the ethnic breakdown by the Statistics Department showed bumiputras having 2.6 children in 2010 compared with 3.5 in 2000, Chinese 1.5 (2.6 in 2000) and Indians 1.7 (2.5 in 2000).
"There were 475,816 babies born last year, compared with 549,543 in 2000," he said.
Meanwhile, Federation of Reproductive Health Associations Malaysia (FRHAM) family planning and reproductive officer Kalpana Devi said one of the reasons for the decline was that couples were marrying at an older age.