Examining intergenerational transfers in Malaysia

Abstract

With the demographic changes toward the aging population, the role of intergenerational support and transfers has become increasingly prominent in the family support network. Using the Malaysia Ageing and Retirement Survey Wave 1 conducted in 2018/2019, this study analyzed the flow and factors associated with the amount of intergenerational financial transfers across three generations via multiple regression analysis. The results showed an upstream flow of financial support from younger to older generations. Variables with significant capability in determining the amount of intergenerational financial transfers include age, gender, ethnicity, education level, marital status, employment, health status, number of living children or parents, income, and financial assistance received from the government. Findings from this study are useful for policymakers to understand the issues of old-age financial security in Malaysia and thus implement relevant policies such as improving the coverage and adequacy of existing social protection programs, strengthening family support networks, as well as educating the public on the importance of having sound financial knowledge.

Keywords

Intergenerational relationships / Intergenerational transfers / Financial transfers / Malaysia

Acknowledgments

None.

Funding

None.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interest.

Author contributions

Conceptualization: Norma Mansor
Formal analysis: Muhammad Amirul Ashraf Abd Ghani
Methodology: Halimah Awang
Supervision: Norma Mansor, Halimah Awang
Visualization: Muhammad Amirul Ashraf Abd Ghani
Writing - original & draft: Muhammad Amirul Ashraf Abd Ghani, Halimah Awang
Writing - review & editing: Halimah Awang, Norma Mansor

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study protocol was approved by the institutional ethics review board of Universiti Malaya (Reference Number: UM.TNC2/UMREC-341). Written informed consent was obtained from study participants.

Consent for publication

Both verbal and written consent were obtained from the respondents before the survey interview to publish their data in this study in aggregate form only.

Availability of data

Data from MARS can be obtained from https://swrc.um.edu.my/mars-data.

Further disclosure

The findings from this study were presented at the 12^th  Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) Population Ageing Virtual Conference 2022.

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