Presenting the latest “Families on the Edge” report, produced by Unicef and the United Nations Population Fund, those involved in the research said that framing of aid was an important part of how people think of different aid options.
“The word ‘handout’ crops up a lot. It creates a bit of a problem. The countries that have the most successful social protection programmes and reduce child poverty most effectively, they don’t think of these things as handouts, or something from the charity model,” said Stephen Barrett, chief of social policy at Unicef Malaysia.
“It is something that’s considered an investment in families and children, and part of the policy fabric of society. It’s an issue of solidarity, of citizenship and investment in the future.”
Similarly, economist Muhammed Abdul Khalid of DM Analytics and co-author of the report, said that direct cash aid, which many of those surveyed called their preferred method of government assistance, was effective in both helping the poor survive and boosting the country’s broader recovery efforts.
“Providing assistance is good for the economy, RM1 in the hands of the poor is good for the economy,” he said, as they are more likely to spend the money given to them on things like household essentials, recirculating it into the economy and contributing to increased private consumption.
With the nationwide movement control order (MCO) announced yesterday and set to begin tomorrow, he said that the government must urgently develop an aid programme to mitigate the impacts it will have on the poor.
“MCO 1.0 and 2.0 were accompanied by more government assistance, in the form of the loan moratorium, wage subsidy, grants for small businesses and the like.”
“Without any assistance, many families have used up their savings over the past year … this MCO 3.0 will have a dire impact, and I shudder to think what would happen.”
A lack of government aid would be “a great injustice” he said, advocating for not just cash aid but also support for children’s education, with schools now forced to close and teaching moving online.
“Education is important for (social) mobility, so if there is an impediment to learning we will see a big loss in human capital, and this will increase inequality.