Population Ageing and the Well-Being of Older Persons in Thailand ...

Section 5: Family support and
intergenerational exchanges
In Thailand, as in South-East Asia generally and much
of the developing world beyond, informal systems of
social and economic exchange within the family play
a crucial role in determining the well being of the older
age population (World Bank 1994). Of particular
importance are intergenerational exchanges of services
and material and social support between elderly
parents and their adult children as well as the living
arrangements with which they are inextricably
entwined. In this section, we examine the nature and
extent of family support and intergenerational
exchanges, including living arrangements, material
support and social contact.
5.1 Living Arrangements
General considerations. Many aspects of well-being
of older persons are influenced by their living
arrangements. In Thailand, as in most of East and
South-East Asia, living with or nearby adult children
has been a predominant pattern. While household
composition is the most common and readily
available indicator of living arrangements, the
implications of particular configurations defined by
such information can be ambiguous. One serious
limitation is that such measures do not encompass
information about others who live next door or very
nearby and may still play an important role in the
lives of elderly (Knodel & Saengtienchai 1999).
Another difficulty arises because the meaning of
living arrangements can not be inferred with any
certainty simply from their form (Hermalin 1997).
Thus measures of composition of households in which
elderly reside can be suggestive but they need to be
interpreted cautiously.
With that said, it is still true that co-residence with
one or more adult children, typically in a stem family
configuration, is a long standing tradition in
Thailand and viewed as an essential way for families
to meet the needs of older dependent members.
Extensive qualitative research has documented that
older Thais themselves often view living arrangements
that permit frequent access between the two
generations as crucial to their own well-being (Knodel,
Saengtienchai & Sittitrai 1995). In contrast, living
alone is usually viewed as a disadvantage for several
reasons. Not only is it likely to be associated with less
frequent interpersonal interactions, and hence
feelings of loneliness, but there is also a greater chance
that urgent needs for assistance, created for example
by an acute health crisis or accident, will go
unnoticed longer than if others are present in the
household. In some cases, living alone may even
signify desertion by others. Although living only with
a spouse also indicates that adult children or other
younger generation kin are not present in the
household, it is generally viewed as less problematic
than living alone since a spouse can be a principal
source of emotional and material support and
personal care during illness or frailty. Co-residence can
benefit both generations but the balance typically shifts
over the life course until eventually parents reach ages
in which their contributions are diminished and they
become largely dependent on others for care and
support.
Trends. Given the central role that living with
children has traditionally played in the context of
family support in Thailand, we start our exploration
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