MEF president Syed Hussain Syed Husman said if national daycare centres and elderly care centres are not institutionalised, the issue of women dropping out of the workforce to care for their children or ailing parents will not be resolved.

The statement was issued yesterday in support of writer Junaidi Ibrahim’s article published in The Star, titled “Undeniable need for caregivers”.

“More than 90% of Malaysian employers have small enterprises and cannot afford to establish daycare and elderly facilities at the workplace.

“MEF believes that as Malaysia is moving fast towards being an ageing nation, care for its ageing society should become a national agenda,” said Syed Hussain.

According to the Economic Outlook 2023 report, Malaysia’s ageing population is growing at a faster-than-expected rate, whereby more than 15% of its population will be above the age of 65 by 2050.

Syed Hussain said government agencies like the Social Security Organisation and EPF should be playing a lead role in looking into these matters.

“There must be more benefits for contributing members during their lives,” it said.

Last year, it was found that only 55.5% of Malaysian women took part in the labour force, a low number compared with Singapore’s 69.7% and Thailand’s 66.8%.