The True Cost of Raising a Child in Malaysia

If you and your significant other are thinking of starting a family, there are a number of considerations to make when evaluating how financially ready you are to enter the world of parenting.

We’ve put together a list of the most common costs associated with raising a child in Malaysia today, including delivery costs, schooling costs, and University fees. Taken together, all the costs involved add up to between RM 400,000 and RM 1.1 million, approximately, depending on your hopes and aspirations for your little one. [1]

Birth

It’s easy to forget, but the financial implications of having a child start well before your little one enters the world. During the prenatal stage you will need to attend regular check-ups, undergo tests and purchase nutritional supplements.

Then there is the cost of delivering your baby, whether it is a normal birth or caesarian, as well as postnatal care for mother and child. The costs of which will depend upon whether you opt for a Government or Private Hospital.

While that’s all important, a confinement lady will also push costs upwards. For one month’s postnatal care, you’re looking at upwards of RM 5,000. [2]

What has become abundantly clear is that since the adoption of GST, the cost of having a baby in Malaysia has gone up significantly. While costs vary between cities, hospitals, birth type, and between public and privately funded hospitals, on average you will need to budget around the following costs:

Item	Government Hospital	Private Hospital
Pre-Natal Check-ups	RM 0	RM 200 per appointment
Normal Delivery	RM 60 - 2,000	RM 3,000 - 6,500
Caesarian Delivery	RM 100 - 800	RM 11,600 - 14,300
Confinement Lady	RM 5,000	RM 5,000

Source: Multiple Hospitals around Malaysia

First few years

As your child grows and develops, the number of expenses will continue to rise, from the cost of food to clothing and other supplies.

Childcare

Despite Government and individual company-led schemes to entice mothers back to the work force, Malaysia female labour force participation rate is the lowest in South-East Asia at 47.2%. [3] As such, there are a number of childcare costs to consider.

A study by parent group Babycenter found that of the over 80% of Malaysian parents rely on third party childcare - 41% relied on grandparents or other relatives to take care of their children, while 40% turned to babysitting or nanny services.

If you choose a babysitter of nanny, the annual bill amounts to an estimated RM 12,000 per year. If you choose to employ a live-in domestic helper, the cost could be up to RM 22,400 for the first year, not including accommodation and food. Whilst the one-time cost of using a domestic helper agency will range between RM 8,000 and RM 18,000.

Necessities

As your little one grows, so will the need for an array of items, both essentials and one-off purchases. One-off purchases could be a stroller and car seat, crib, high chair, baby bath and changing table, while recurring items would be clothes, diapers and formula that can easily push your monthly budget close to RM 3,000 per month.

Primary and secondary school education

When your little one starts Primary School, education costs are set to take over as your single biggest expense. Which only increase as they progress into Secondary School. In addition to school fees, you will also have to consider yearly school uniform expenses, schoolbooks, school trips and fees for tuition or after-school enrichment classes.

State or private education?

Government schools in Malaysia are free, although you will need to cover the cost of school uniforms, exercise books and other day-to-day expenses. Uniforms, including sportswear can push your annual budget by a further RM 200.

Textbooks, meanwhile, are free under the Ministry of Education’s Textbook Loan Scheme. Outside of uniforms, you will likely also be looking at club and team membership and PIBG fees. Together pushing annual costs up to around RM 50. Stationary and exercise books increase this total by a further estimated RM 110 per year.

Private schooling and international schools, meanwhile, will include registration and annual fees, monthly tuition, PTA fees, and examinations fees leaving a top-line yearly spend of just under RM 100,000. [4] While the more affordable international schools still run to around RM 20,000 – 30,000. [4]

Secondary schooling follows in a similar vein. Schooling is free for state-run schools, outside of uniform and excursion costs. While private schooling increases to an annual rate of RM 6,000 on average. Uniform will cost on average around RM 210 including school and extracurricular kit.

University education

As you look towards University-level education for your child, your expenses can escalate rapidly depending on where you want your child to study.

University costs abroad continue to rise for foreign students. Parents who send their children to countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States or Australia experience having to pay approximately RM 145,000 annually, depending on the type of course, length of study, cost of living in the area, currency movements and other variables. [5]

If you prefer your child to study locally, the cost hovers at about RM 400,000, which is also a hefty sum. This makes is even more important to save for your little one’s future sooner rather than later with the A-EduAchieve 2 Savings and Investment plan.

Conclusion

The total cost of raising a child in Malaysia lies between RM 400,000 – RM 1.1 million. Depending mainly upon how and where you spend your money on education. From state and private schooling, to local and international university costs.

AIA offers coverage plans perfectly geared towards helping you save, invest, and protect your wealth to make raising your child in Malaysia that little bit easier.

Click here to find out more.

References

[1] Teh Boon Sung, Christopher (Aug 18, 2013). "Why only one child? RM1.1 million to raise a child in Malaysia." Retrieved September 27, 2016.

[2] Baby Center Malaysia (2015) "Confinement lady: a guide to finding and hiring a pui yuet." Retrieved September 27, 2016.

[3] The World Bank, (2014) "Labor Force Participation Rate, Female (% of female population ages 15-64)." Retrieved September 27, 2016.

[4] Chi, Melissa, MalayMail Online (May 20, 2014) "What price, international school education?" Retrieved September 27, 2016.

[5] Study Malaysia (Feb, 18, 2015) "Cost of Studying and Living in Malaysia." Retrived September 27, 2016.

https://www.al-islamhospital.com/packages

http://www.ppukm.ukm.my/treatment-fees/

http://hselayang.moh.gov.my/en/public/charges-payment/delivery-charges.html

http://www.hpj.gov.my/portalv11/index.php/en/full-paying-patient-fpp

http://www.babycenter.com.my/o1021647/who-will-help-you-care-for-baby...

http://www.moe.gov.my/en/home

http://www.tarc.edu.my/

http://studymalaysia.com/education/undergrad.php?id=msian

http://www.um.edu.my/

http://www.ktj.edu.my/364/admissions/fees

http://www.monash.edu.my/study/undergraduate/fees

http://www.meshio.com/child-education-calculator/

The above articles are intended for informational purposes only. AIA accepts no responsibility for loss which may arise from reliance on information contained in the articles.