KUALA LUMPUR: Reconciliation rates among troubled couples have seen a marked improvement through targeted intervention, with 13.1% of those seeking help from the National Population and Family Development Board successfully saving their marriages.
Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said 31 out of 236 couples who underwent sessions with the board’s Marriage Conciliation Body reconciled between October 2024 and August 2026. The initiative was established in collaboration with the National Registration Department.
Speaking at the Marital Happiness Forum on Monday (Oct 5) in conjunction with National Counselling Month, Nancy noted that the 13.1% success rate is a significant leap from the roughly 2% reconciliation rate previously seen in standard tribunal proceedings.
“This figure shows that when couples are given the space to be heard, guided, and make rational considerations, there is still room to repair their relationships,” she said, adding that another 24% of couples chose to continue their ongoing counselling sessions with the board.
Nancy emphasised that the initiative offers couples facing severe conflict or impending divorce an opportunity to reassess their marriages in a calm, structured environment.
However, the minister warned that broader national trends reflect growing strain on family units.
Divorce cases nationwide rose by 4.1% to 60,457 in 2024. Meanwhile, domestic violence reports lodged with the police surged from 5,507 cases in 2023 to 7,391 in 2025.
Nancy highlighted the severe toll family instability takes on children, citing findings from the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2022. The survey of over 33,000 secondary school students revealed that one in four adolescents experienced depression, one in six felt lonely, and only 24.2% felt their parents or guardians truly understood their struggles.
Addressing root causes, Nancy pointed to unmanaged emotional distress as a primary driver of household breakdown.
“One of the challenges that can undermine family harmony is the failure to manage emotions, particularly anger," she said. "When anger is not controlled, it affects the physical and emotional well-being of the entire family."
She noted that common triggers include work pressure, financial strain, fatigue, and feelings of being unappreciated, urging individuals to adopt mature and safe methods for managing emotional stress.
