COVID-19 Outbreak: An Analysis of Malaysian Household Income Class During Movement Control Order (MCO)

Ismail, Mohd Khairi; Kumaran, Vikniswari Vija; Munawwarah, Siti Nurul; Muhamad, Muhamad Zahid; Sarifuddin, Syamsulang

doi:10.25115/eea.v39i4.4484

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…This group has the potential of experiencing significant financial downturn during the pandemic [38] while they also know that they were not being prioritized as a group that require financial empowerment by the authority. As mentioned previously, the authorities tend to prioritize the lower-class group in delivering any form empowerment initiative.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, financial empowerment efforts were given by the authorities based on the statistic of how much individuals made per year; in the Malaysian context, the government and non-governmental organisations (NGO) focused their financial empowerment effort on the B40 group, the 40% of the population with the lowest financial input apart from those with physical disabilities [37]. This situation could be based on the perspective that individuals with lower income had expressed the highest need for empowerment, although it was reported that the M40 group (the 40% middle-class population) are facing a severe potential of a financial downturn due to the COVID-19 outbreak [38] and the overspending during the pandemic occurred at all financial layers of the society [39].…”

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confidence: 99%

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Mattering, social support, resilience and sense of empowerment during the pandemic

Nga

Kurian

Prihadi

et al. 2022

IJPHS

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The sense of empowerment had always been reported as contingent upon resilience, the sense of financial security, and perceived social support (PSS). In the context of the Malaysian urban population, the outbreak shifted social dynamics through the enforcement of movement control order (MCO), a partial-to-full lockdown policy enforced by the government to curb the virus. Studies in the local context suggested that the implementation of MCO led to a sense of uncertainty towards social support and financial security among the population, as well as the decline of resilience and the sense of mattering. This sparked a question, whether the significance of PSS, resilience, mattering, and income levels are still significant in predicting the sense of empowerment among our population. Through open social media pages, 405 adults between 18 and 62 years of age (M=25.44) living in urban areas of Malaysia to respond to the scales of empowerment, resilience, PSS, and mattering with some financial compensation in the form of e-wallet credits. Our findings suggested that PSS was no longer a significant predictor of empowerment after controlling for resilience, mattering, and income, which was opposed to other predictors in the equation that were still significant even after controlling for each other. Further relationships among the variables, implications and suggestions are discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Mattering, social support, resilience and sense of empowerment during the pandemic

Nga

Kurian

Prihadi

et al. 2022

IJPHS

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“…► Pregnant women whose permanent residence is in the Anuradhapura district and had not planned to leave the district until childbirth. ► Period of amenorrhoea/gestational age is less than 13 weeks by the time of recruitment. Pregnant women with uncertain due dates and those who planned to leave the study setting for delivery were excluded from the study.…”

Section: Study Population and Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Few studies have cited the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the household economy 6 8. These studies investigated the adverse effects on household economies in Nigeria,12 changes in consumption patterns of Malaysian households,13 losing jobs and declining household income in some Asia-Pacific countries—Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam 14. Economic burden during COVID-19 could be more problematic for households of pregnant women, since pregnancy expenditure was already a burden in many low-income and middle-income countries 15.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on health service utilisation and household economy of pregnant and postpartum women: a cross-sectional study from rural Sri Lanka

et al. 2023

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ObjectivesThis study aims to describe how household economies and health service utilisation of pregnant and postpartum women were affected during the pandemic.DesignA cross-sectional study.SettingThis study was conducted in the Anuradhapura district, Sri Lanka.ParticipantsThe study participants were 1460 pregnant and postpartum women recruited for the Rajarata Pregnancy Cohort during the initial stage of the COVID-19 pandemic.Primary and secondary outcome measuresHousehold economic (income, poverty, nutritional and health expenditures) and health service utilisation details during the COVID-19 pandemic were gathered through telephone interviews. Sociodemographic and economic data were obtained from the cohort baseline and analysed with descriptive and non-parametric analysis.ResultsOut of the 1460 women in the sample, 55.3% (n=807) were pregnant and 44.7% (n=653) were postpartum women. Of the total sample, 1172 (80.3%) women participated in the economic component. The monthly household income (median (IQR)=212.39 (159.29–265.49)) reduced (median (IQR)=159.29 (106.20–212.39)) in 50.5% (n=592) families during the pandemic (Z=−8.555, p<0.001). Only 10.3% (n=61) of affected families had received financial assistance from the government, which was only 46.4% of the affected income. The nutritional expenditure of pregnant women was reduced (Z=−2.023, p=0.043) by 6.7%. During the pandemic, 103 (8.8%) families with pregnant or postpartum women were pushed into poverty, and families who were pushed into poverty did not receive any financial assistance. The majority of women (n=1096, 83.3%) were satisfied with the free public health services provided by the public health midwife during the pandemic.ConclusionDuring the early stages of the pandemic, healthcare utilisation of pregnant women was minimally affected. Even before the country’s current economic crisis, the household economies of pregnant women in rural Sri Lanka were severely affected, pushing families into poverty due to the pandemic. The impact of COVID-19 and the aftermath on pregnant women will have many consequences if the policies and strategies are not revised to address this issue.

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“…While MCOs were intended to slow the spread of COVID-19, they had concerning impacts on socioeconomics and health. Low-income groups, particularly the bottom 40% of the economic spectrum known as the B40 in Malaysia, were most affected due to insufficient savings ( 6 ). Quarantine lockdowns and movement restrictions may have also exacerbated the root factors that lead to obesity and other risks and management of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) ( 7 , 8 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the impact of COVID-19 movement control orders on eating habits and physical activity in low-resource urban settings in Malaysia

Lim¹,

Kataria²,

Ngongo

et al. 2022

Glob Health Promot

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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic led Malaysia to introduce movement control orders (MCOs). While MCOs were intended to slow the spread of COVID-19, the effects of such measures on the noncommunicable disease (NCD) risk factors have not been fully explored. This exploratory study aimed to understand the effect of the MCO on the eating habits and physical activity levels of the urban poor in Malaysia as well as potential health promotion interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This rapid assessment used a mixed-method approach in three low-cost public flats in Kuala Lumpur targeting the B40, which is the bottom 40% of the economic spectrum. A total of 95 community members participated in a quantitative phone survey, while 21 respondents participated in a qualitative phone survey, including 12 community members and nine community health volunteers (CHVs). Results: The movement restriction imposed during the MCO significantly reduced the frequency and duration of respondents’ physical activity. At the same time, respondents reported significantly increased consumption of home-cooked meals. More than half of respondents reduced their consumption of packaged snack foods (53.7%), street desserts (54.7%), fast food (50.5%), soft drinks (50.5%), and 3-in-1 or instant drinks (50.5%) due to limited access during the MCO. B40 communities were receptive to potential interventions to encourage healthier eating and physical activity leveraging digital approaches under the ‘new normal’. Reported concerns included internet accessibility and affordability, functionality, and digital literacy. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic requires innovation to address diseases and risk factors at the community level. While movement restrictions reduced physical activity, they created opportunities for low-income individuals to have greater control over their diet, enabling them to adopt healthier eating habits. Lifestyle changes experienced by vulnerable populations provide an opportunity for creative and technology-enabled interventions to promote healthy eating and exercise.

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COVID-19 Outbreak: An Analysis of Malaysian Household Income Class During Movement Control Order (MCO)

Cited by 5 publications

References 10 publications

Mattering, social support, resilience and sense of empowerment during the pandemic

Mattering, social support, resilience and sense of empowerment during the pandemic

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on health service utilisation and household economy of pregnant and postpartum women: a cross-sectional study from rural Sri Lanka

Exploring the impact of COVID-19 movement control orders on eating habits and physical activity in low-resource urban settings in Malaysia

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