Thai Elderly Who Do Not Coreside with Their Children

In Thailand as elsewhere in Asia, responsibility for the support and care of the elderly in both a normative and practical sense rests largely with the family and within the family, primarily with the children. Studies of the living situation of the Thai elderly, therefore, have centered on the elderly coresiding with children. However, despite this norm, a substantial minority of Thai elderly do not reside with children, and there is a lack of research on childless elderly despite the theoretical and practical importance of their situation. Using data from the 1986 Socio- economic Consequences of the Aging Population in Thailand survey, this article begins to address the living arrangements of these understudied elderly.

Findings indicate that although the clear modal pattern of living arrangements characterizing the majority of elderly and the one with most normative support in Thailand is coresidence with an adult child, most of those who do not live with a child appear to be in situations in which the familial support system still operates. These alternative arrangements to coresidence with one's own child include living close enough to at least one child that daily contact is maintained, living with an economically active and/or adult younger generation relative who can serve as a substitute child, or living with other adults' relations.

Dataset(s): ASEAN Survey of the Elderly (SECAPT): Thailand, 1986 . Comparative Study of Aging in Asia Focus Groups: Thailand 1990-1991.