Muhammed Abdul Khalid, head of research firm DM Analytics which conducted the study for the UN children’s agency, said the figures were especially stark when put against the rebound in Malaysia’s economy, which grew at a steady 3.7 per cent pace in 2023.

“The country is getting richer, but our children are eating less,” Muhammed said on Wednesday when presenting the findings of the report.

The study urged the government to introduce a universal childcare allowance for 1,000 days to support parents from pre-birth to two years of age as well as for people with disabilities and their carers.

The social care spend could be funded by the savings made from a planned reduction in Malaysia’s generous subsidy regime, the report’s authors suggested.

The poll also found 52 per cent of children of all households surveyed ate fewer than three meals a day, a rise from 45 per cent before the pandemic struck.

“High food prices and financial constraints serve as significant barriers for parents striving to provide balanced and healthy nutrition to their children,” the report said.

The research, part of the Living on the Edge study jointly funded by Unicef and the UN Population Fund, surveyed 755 families living in 16 low-cost public housing schemes across Kuala Lumpur between October and November last year.

The households were predominantly from the country’s Malay majority, while 16 per cent were ethnic Indians followed by 2 per cent who were ethnic Chinese.

Nine out of 10 families surveyed said they were struggling with soaring living costs, the report said.

Single mothers faced the sharpest financial pressure, with 59 per cent of households that had female heads living in penury, while over two-thirds of households led by individuals with a disability fell below the poverty line.

To pad up their funds, heads of households either take on extra work, withdraw from their retirement savings, borrow money from family and friends or sell personal items such as mobile phones.

“These strategies underscore the significant economic strain experienced by households and the lengths they are willing to go to make ends meet,” read the report, adding that this has caused an increase in adult depression as one in three households believe their financial situation will only get worse.

This was despite overall unemployment falling to 5.9 per cent last October from 12 per cent in March 2021 in the midst of the pandemic, and the median household income returning to the pre-Covid level of nearly 3,000 ringgit (US$632).

The study noted that dietary habits had changed significantly, with 70 per cent of the families surveyed spending more money on eggs as the most affordable source of protein, compared to 52 per cent during the pandemic, and similarly on rice.

The move, however, also saw a rise in the consumption of unhealthy food options such as instant noodles.

“These shifts in dietary patterns reflect the adaptive measures taken by households to navigate the challenges posed by the rising cost of living, prioritising affordability over nutritional considerations,” the report said.

Parents were also concerned that quality and access to education for their children will suffer as they struggle to meet escalating costs of everything from transport to co-curricular activities and tuition, Unicef said.

The UN body called on the government to broaden social assistance to all poor households and not only the hardcore poor and to improve on delivery of cash handout programmes, as 30 per cent of families with a monthly income of 2,000 ringgit (US$421) or less did not receive critical aid.

“The current level of minimum wage is too low and insufficient for the workers. Taking into consideration key factors such as cost of living, poverty line income, median wage and productivity, our calculation shows that the minimum wage should be set at 2,102 ringgit per month, instead of 1,500 ringgit per month currently,” the report said.

Malaysia’s Gini coefficient – an economic tool to measure income inequality – stood at 40.7 as of 2021 when it was last evaluated by the World Bank. Economists rate any value above 40 as indicative of a large wage gap between the highest and lowest income earners.

Muhammed of DM Analytics said it will cost the government less than 1 per cent of GDP to implement Unicef’s recommendations, which could be funded by savings from planned cuts to fuel price subsidies.

“You should give [savings from subsidies] to these people. It will not only improve cost of living but also improve social mobility, improve health conditions and educational outcomes,” he said.