Using data collected from urban households in the Klang Valley, Malaysia, this study examined the impact of household debt on urban household consumption decisions. The findings revealed that household debt does not generally affect consumption decisions, except in the case of expenditure on vacation, which tends to be reduced for households facing high levels of debt. Furthermore, general financial wellness tends to be the main factor affecting consumption rather than debt. Households with poorer financial wellness make more frequent cuts to daily meals, fruit, utility, transportation, clothing, medical care, vacations, and leisure activities. Although the impact of debt on consumption is not extensive, it must be closely monitored to ensure that the risk is contained and that the wellbeing of households is not adversely affected.
By using the data collected from urban households in Klang Valley, Malaysia, this study tries to provide empirical evidence on the effect of household debt on married Malaysian couples on their marital satisfaction. This study wishes to extend the implications of household debt in Malaysia beyond economic concern per se. We found that household debt does have a negative association with marriage satisfaction for married couples in Klang Valley Malaysia. Such relationship is valid even financial wellness and other demographic variables are controlled. Moreover, the less secured personal debt shows a significant negative relationship with the couple’s marriage satisfaction compared with no evidence on the impact of housing loan and vehicle loan.
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