Spending Behavior and Coping Strategies of The Low Income Group in Kedah, Malay

School of Economic Finance and Banking Universiti Utara Malaysia Kedah, Malaysia

^* hadijah@uum.edu.my

Abstract

This study was conducted to examine and understand the behavior of low income households (B40) which are defined as households with income below RM3800. The data was collected from face to face interview based on structured questionnaire to cover 124 head of household (respondents) randomly selected in the Kubang Pasu district. The results show that most respondents spend their income on food items. Household heads are mostly employed in the agriculture, forestry & fisheries sector (27%) and most of them have an income lower than RM2000. The respondents also stated that they do side jobs and have to be frugal to cope with the rising cost of living. Nearly all (92.7%) of household heads received government assistance, particularly BR1M and a majority found that the assistance received was at a moderate level of satisfaction. There are many suggestions given by the household to overcome the rising cost of living such as eliminating the Goods and Services Tax (GST), increasing the amount of government assistance and controlling the prices of goods and fuel.