The UN agency’s latest “Families on the Edge” paper involved surveying residents of 500 low-cost housing flats in the Klang Valley, which accounted for nearly 3,000 individuals.

Mental health and stability issues widely affected heads of households (HoHs) in the survey, with women more likely to report they were suffering from mental and emotional strain.

Up to 22% of HoHs reported feeling depressed or experiencing extremely unstable emotions, a figure that stood at 29% for female HoHs.

Meanwhile, over half of the female HoH reported feeling anxious about their ability to feed their families and save for retirement.

Nearly a third of female HoHs also reported observing negative behavioural changes among the people they lived with, including increased relationship tension, symptoms of depression and increased substance abuse.

Schooling pressures add to mounting stress

The study also found that children were increasingly absent from school, particularly upper secondary students as 7% were reported to have missed classes since schools reopened.

Nearly a fifth of all HoHs responded that their children had lost interest in their studies following the movement control order (MCO).

Due to economic hardships, nearly 60% of households said they were having difficulty paying tuition fees for their children.

During the MCO when online learning became widespread, nearly 90% of students in low-income housing used mobile phones as their primary learning device, with almost 80% not having access to a computer, which the report warns remains a major concern should schools be forced to close again.

As such, over three quarters of parents said they preferred their children to go to school, key reasons being the lack of work space at home, internet connection as well as learning devices.