RE-ASSESSING FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO POVERTY IN THE STATES OF NORTHERN MALAYSIA

Abstract

Poverty is a never-ending global issue. The intensity and the nature of poverty may be varying from one country to another, but poverty denies the poor from certain basic needs applied to all the poor. Many studies have determined factors causing poverty and many studies have also provided various suggestions and policy implications to alleviate poverty. However, as the world economy and social practices are changing, which have affected the livelihood strategies of the overall world population, these would also cause changes in factors contributing to poverty. Therefore, it is crucial to reassess these factors to redefine the poverty paradigm so that it is in line with current needs. This study aims to reassess factors contributing to poverty in Kedah Malaysia. Using qualitative method of analysis, data are collected through sample surveys. The information on the poor households in Kedah are also captured from the e-kasih data base and Implementation Coordination Unit (ICU) at state level. The findings discover that there are three main categories contributing to poverty; physiology, knowledge and means of livelihood. Physiology includes physical and health condition, while knowledge includes educational achievement and skill level. For means of livelihoods include occupational composition and income.  The study also discovers that even though pockets of poverty is existing in Malaysia, many of the poor households are receiving financial and non-financial assistance from government and non-government agencies to help the poor to improve their socio-economic standard.  In addition, even though the factors contributing to poverty are not much different from previous studies, the nature of economic activities and livelihood strategies have changed that require the poor to adjust to suit the new work setting.