Gender differences in household education expenditure in Malaysia

Purpose The objective of this study is to examine gender differences in the allocation of household expenditure on education in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach This study examines the determinants of expenditure on education using a double hurdle model, where the decision to incur education expenditure is modelled first and followed by the decision on how much to spend on education. Findings The results show evidence of significant gender differences in the allocation of expenditure on education. For young children (4–12 years) and adult (18–23 years), this bias tends to favour females, while for secondary-aged children, the bias is pro-male. Practical implications These findings may reflect a cultural shift in attitudes towards female education, although the effects are likely to be compounded by a lower completion rate of boys in upper secondary education, a growing concern that cannot be ignored by the government, policymakers or households. Originality/value This study utilises the Malaysia Household Expenditure Survey (HES) 2022 dataset to make two important contributions. First, conditional on enrolment, it investigates the extent to which there are gender differences at the household level in the allocation of expenditure at every level of education. Second, it examines the model by region and includes intergenerational effects in examining its indirect effects on the gender gap.