Socio-Economics Factors Affecting B40 Households Food Expenditure in Malaysia

Abstract

As Malaysia continues its stable economic growth, certain income groups remain vulnerable to economic shocks, particularly the B40 households especially during this Covid-19 pandemic. Almost 80 percent of B40 household income spent on routine essential expenses with the highest proportion on food and non-alcoholic beverages. Hence, any spike in the food prices will impact this income group the most. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore the spending pattern of households on food and non-alcoholic beverages items of different income groups. This study also examines the effects of important socio-economics factors on the consumption pattern of food and non-alcoholic beverages among B40 households in Malaysia. Household Expenditure Survey (HES) 2016 dataset has been employed. A total of 14,551 households were used. Linear regression technique was developed to examine the effects of selected socio-economic factors including average price for food items, B40 income, household size, education, ethnicity, marital status, occupation, location, age, gender, and house ownership) on household food expenditure. Descriptive analysis indicates, average expenditure on food consumption by B40 households is RM563.13, while average monthly income is RM 2,540.81. While, for M40 and T20 average monthly food expenditure among households is estimated at RM766.59 and RM948.60 respectively. The average monthly income estimated at RM 5,723.34 and RM14,159.87 for M40 and T20 respectively. The B40 income group spend 29% of their income on food expenditure. Fresh fish, fresh meat, fresh vegetables, rice, and bread/kuih are the top five food expenditures respectively. The regression analysis indicates that, apart from semi-skilled occupation, all other factors in the linear model significantly affects the food expenditure. Thus, the results recommend the government to closely monitor the top food items mostly consumed by B40 and M40 income group. This may help to minimize the cost of living on food expenditure borne by these income groups.