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Development of Indicators for Family Well-Being in Malaysia

Author

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  • Noraini Noor
  • Anjli Gandhi
  • Ismahalil Ishak
  • Saodah Wok

Abstract

This study was carried out to develop a set of indicators for measuring and reporting the state of family well-being in Malaysia, and subsequently, to produce an Index of Family Well-Being. To build the set of indicators, domains of family well-being and relevant indicators were identified from past studies. Focus group discussions with families, professional groups and NGOs helped to refine the indicators prior to the main study. Using a stratified random sampling design, 2,808 households were identified (a parent and a child aged at least 13 years), making a total sample of 5,616 respondents. Results indicated ten key indicators that can predict family well-being—resiliency, safety, savings, healthy lifestyle, time with family, work-family balance, importance of religion, number of bedrooms at home, debt and child care—supporting the notion of family well-being being multi-dimensional and interconnected. On the basis of the results, a model of family well-being was hypothesized. This model was used to guide the development of the Index of Family Well-being. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was carried out to determine the fit of the model to data. Five domains of family well-being were identified—family relationships, economic situation, health and safety, community relationship and religion/spirituality. The Index of Family Well-Being was calculated using the equal weighting strategy to each of these five domains. This index showed that the current family well-being of Malaysians is relatively high at 7.95 (SD = 1.38) on a 0–10 Likert response format. The findings suggest that family well-being is multifaceted, made up not only of the immediate family relationships and health and safety of its members, but include having adequate income to meet the demands of a minimum standard of living. Currently, the Index that is developed is only in the form of a numerical value reflecting the state of family well-being, but in future, it can be used to track changes in the family from time to time. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Noraini Noor & Anjli Gandhi & Ismahalil Ishak & Saodah Wok, 2014. "Development of Indicators for Family Well-Being in Malaysia," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 115(1), pages 279-318, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:115:y:2014:i:1:p:279-318
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-012-0219-1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    4. Fattore, Marco & Alaimo, Leonardo Salvatore, 2023. "A partial order toolbox for building synthetic indicators of sustainability with ordinal data," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    5. Adam B. Cohen & Kathryn A. Johnson, 2017. "The Relation between Religion and Well-Being," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 12(3), pages 533-547, September.
    6. Nurul Syahida Mohd Ayob & Siti Aishah Hassan & Mohd Hamdan Mohamed Nordin, 2021. "A Local Approach Toward Multicultural Counseling in Malaysia," International Journal of Human Resource Studies, Macrothink Institute, vol. 11(4S), pages 287306-2873, December.
    7. Bo Yang & Marcus W. Feldman & Shuzhuo Li, 2021. "The Status of Family Resilience: Effects of Sustainable Livelihoods in Rural China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 153(3), pages 1041-1064, February.
    8. Thomas Wai-Kee Yuen & Winnie Wan-Ling Chu, 2015. "Happiness in ASEAN member states," International Journal of Happiness and Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 2(1), pages 69-83.

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