SHAH ALAM - Women's rights groups have urged for a budget that directly addresses the systemic oppression faced by Malaysian women in a capitalist, patriarchal society, advocating for real change and meaningful support.
The announcement of Budget 2025 on Oct 18 has left Malaysian women's rights groups feeling sidelined, as it fell short of addressing the systemic issues they continue to face.
Although the budget included various economic initiatives, it lacked a focused strategy to confront the specific challenges impacting women, such as workplace inequality, healthcare access and social services.
Advocates emphasised that a budget tailored to the needs and aspirations of women was essential for achieving genuine equality and empowerment in Malaysian society.
All Women’s Action Society (Awam) Senior Advocacy Officer, Amanda Shweeta Louis stressed that despite making up half of Malaysia’s population, women continue to be underrepresented in key decision-making roles.
"A true commitment to empowerment requires investing in leadership programmes for women and ensuring that girls have access to safe, healthy home and school environments to grow and thrive.
"Malaysian women need a budget that truly addresses the systemic oppression they face in a capitalist, patriarchal society.
"Initiatives for women must be transformative, not performative and require consistent monitoring to ensure real change,” she said.
Amanda pointed out that although Budget 2025 focuses on increasing women’s workforce participation, it neglects critical issues such as affordable childcare, unpaid care work, and gender-based violence.
She also emphasised that the rising cost of living disproportionately impacts working-class and marginalised women, yet these concerns were not adequately addressed.
"According to data from the Statistics Department, as of Aug 2024, women's labour force participation is 56.7 per cent, compared to 83.3 per cent for men, with 42.8 per cent of the 7.23 million people outside the workforce engaged in unpaid care work, a burden mostly on women.
"The budget also lacks provisions for informal sector women, while efforts like tax relief for companies offering flexible work arrangements and caregiver leave do not adequately address wage and labour protection issues for low-income women.
"A more inclusive approach, including equal caregiving opportunities for men and formalising social work, is needed for true gender equity,” she added.
Amanda also added that a comprehensive national policy for women's empowerment is needed to address the structural challenges women face, beyond career advancement.
According to her, many working-class women earning minimum wage could not thrive through employment-focused policies alone; they require broader support, such as affordable childcare, universal healthcare, targeted subsidies and social safety nets to break free from poverty.
"The RM200 minimum wage increase (to RM1,700 in 2024) falls short of the RM2,700 living wage estimated by Bank Negara Malaysia in 2018, highlighting the gap between wages and the rising cost of living.
"Awam stresses the need to tackle issues like low wages, access to quality healthcare, social protections for unpaid caregivers and support for gender-based violence survivors.
"The government must develop a bold national policy targeting the root causes of women’s oppression for genuine gender equity in Malaysia,” she said.
Echoing Amanda’s sentiments, Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) Acting Executive Director Nazreen Nizam acknowledged that while Budget 2025 introduced positive initiatives to enhance women’s leadership and entrepreneurship, overall satisfaction remains tempered by persistent gender disparities.
She pointed out that although economic measures could benefit women, the budget's failure to incorporate gender-specific strategies and its lack of provisions to address gender-based and domestic violence were critical oversights.
"WAO wished Budget 2025 included funds for preventing gender-based and domestic violence, with support for shelters and safe spaces, as these are essential for protecting women at risk.
"Initiatives to strengthen and professionalise Malaysia’s social workers were critical, given the shortage and their vital role in supporting GBV survivors.
Mandatory gender impact assessments for all new policies should also be implemented to prevent widening gender gaps,” she said.
Nazreen also expressed WAO's concerns that the budget neglected gender-based and domestic violence, which urgently need attention and funding.
She added that the RM25 million allocation for Ops Global, specifically the 'Pemulihan Akidah' (rehabilitation programmes), raised questions about its relevance to advancing gender equality.
"More transparency is needed on how these funds will be utilised. While RM150 million has been allocated to Government-Linked Investment Companies (GLIC) and Government-Linked Companies (GLC), it is unclear how accessible this funding will be for organisations like WAO, which support women and children affected by violence.
"A more inclusive and detailed approach was necessary for budget planning to address the diverse needs of women, including single mothers, those from B40 groups, rural and Indigenous women, disabled women, and gender-based violence (GBV) survivors.
"Recognising these intersections was essential for effective policy and allocation,” she said.
In the Budget 2025 announcement last week, Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim focused on enhancing women's participation in the workforce through several key initiatives.
He announced the expansion of the Women’s Leadership Apprenticeship Programme (Perantis) under the Women’s Affairs Ministry to produce more female corporate leaders.
Although the budget did not introduce many new initiatives specifically for women, Anwar highlighted the existing programmes aimed at increasing women's leadership roles, particularly in corporate and financial sectors.
As of Oct 10, the average percentage of women holding board positions in the top 100 companies listed on Bursa Malaysia reached 32.2 per cent, meeting the government’s target of 30 per cent.
However, Anwar said 39 companies have yet to meet this goal on their boards, urging compliance by the end of 2027.
He also introduced the Returnship Programme, aimed at encouraging women to re-enter the workforce, particularly in the financial sector, which will provide training and connect participants with potential employers.
To further support women returning to work, the government will offer employers an additional 50 per cent tax deduction for wages paid to women rejoining the workforce.
RM470 million in funding has been allocated to support women-owned small and medium sized enterprises (SMESs) in obtaining working capital and expanding their businesses.
Despite these initiatives, the budget revealed a lack of broader, more comprehensive programmes aimed at empowering women across various sectors, indicating that more efforts are needed to support their economic and social advancement in Malaysia.