Budget 2024 brings good news to your door if you are a woman, senior citizen, or youth.

Budget 2024 announcement has come and gone. There have been much to say about some points yet there are a lot of minute details and measures that many people are not talking about enough. This is especially true for the new measures that benefit women, senior citizens, and youth.

Hence, here at MyPF, we have compiled the relevant measures for women, senior citizens, and youth together so you can digest them better without flipping pages back and forth. Let’s take a look at the 7 measures from Budget 2024 that are advantageous to you.

#1: Tax Incentive for Women to Return to Workforce, Extended

The government is extending the tax incentives for women to return to the workforce until 31 December 2027. This was first introduced in 2020 where women can enjoy an income tax exemption of RM500 until 2023.

The aim here is to increase the female workforce in the job market to 60%, as progress has been slow since its introduction. That participation rate has only increased slightly from 55.3% in 2020 to 55.9% in 2023.

This incentive will benefit many women and households as the high cost of living has meant that many Malaysian households now need dual-income to make ends meet. Every sen counts!

#2: Income Tax Exemption on Childcare Allowances

One of the biggest impediments to women in Malaysia to pursue a career and earn more income is childcare. Childcare services are expensive and to pay for them, women would need to earn more income. But therein lies the problem. World Bank stated in its research here that unpaid care work (parents looking after children) is one of the main barriers to women’s employment and job retention.

Hence, the government has increased the income tax exemption for childcare allowances from RM2,400 to RM3,000, reducing the tax burden for women primarily. Technically, this makes childcare slightly more affordable and could enable more women to join the workforce.

#3: RM820 million in Micro-Loans for Women and Youth

For 2024, RM720 million is set aside as micro-loans for women and youth to venture into their businesses. This funding can be obtained from Bank Negara Malaysia, Bank Simpanan Nasional, and TEKUN. Furthermore, the government has also allocated RM100 million for Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia to provide funding and capital for single mothers and the poor.

For women and youth who have not worked before, it is hard to get funding from conventional channels such as banks due to a lack of information and track record. Hence, these micro-loans are crucial in supporting these vulnerable groups by providing them funding to start their businesses and generate additional income.

#4: RM500 for Youths Volunteering

The past 2 years have been tough on youths in Malaysia. Part-time work was scarce as they were not allowed to move to different areas during movement control restrictions and many are finding it hard to secure a job after they graduate.

There is an additional avenue that Malaysian youths can consider – volunteering but better. The government is now giving RM500 to any youths aged 18 – 20 years old who volunteer with organisations recognised by the government.

It is unsure yet which organisations the government is talking about, but a good place to start will be to look at these organisations.

#5: RM30 million for Youth Entrepreneurship Programs

Two programs are targeted for youths that have been allocated funding for 2024:

  1. Tunas Usahawan Belia Bumiputera (TUBE): Allocated RM20 million and is targeted at Bumiputera youth entrepreneurs. It is managed by SME Corp and you can find out more information about it here.
  2. TEKUN Belia Mobilepreneur: Allocated RM10 million and is targeted at young people to venture into delivery services using motorcycles.

TUBE has commenced since 2014 and has produced more than 7,000 entrepreneurs and 14,000 job opportunities. Hence, it already has a steady track record in disbursing funding. Meanwhile, TEKUN Belia Mobilepreneur is already at its fourth iteration and provides funding to buy and repair motorcycles.

#6: Federal Small Scholarship for Poverty-Line Households

The government has expanded the Federal Small Scholarship parent’s income criteria to RM2,589 compared to RM1,500 previously. This enables more families to apply and qualify for the scholarship and put more children into school.

It estimates that an additional 35,000 children will be able to benefit and that is good news. The poverty rate in Malaysia increased from 5.6% in 2019 to 8.4% in 2020 during the height of the pandemic.

Hopefully, this will benefit children in the states of Sabah (25.3% poverty rate), Kelantan (21.2%) and Sarawak (12.3%) as they have the highest rates of poverty.

#7: Cash for Elder Care Facilities and Job Help for Elders

The government has allocated RM1 billion to protect the wellbeing of senior citizens. This will mainly be in the form of cash assistance to fund senior citizens’ care institutions and activity centres.

While the government did not elaborate much on this, they could be used to fund existing programs such as the Bantuan Keluarga Malaysia (BKM), where senior citizens are receiving RM300 per month.

Furthermore, the One Percent Policy on Employment Opportunities is extended to senior citizens via the MYFutureJobs job-matching and MySTEP program. In the MySTEP program, they could be offered contractual placements with an allowance of RM1,500 for 6 months with various ministries, government-linked companies, and several government partners.

Conclusion

While many people have focused on the bigger stories of the Budget 2024, like the higher Sales and Services Tax, and removal of subsidies, there are indeed several positive takeaways in particular for women, senior citizens, and youth.

 

Let us know in the comments below what you think about Budget 2024.

 

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