The Familial Support System of Thai Elderly: An Overview

This study presents an overview of the familial system of support for the elderly as it currently exists in Thailand. The focus is on living arrangements and material support of elderly Thais in relation to their children. Data come from a nationally representative survey of the elderly in private households conducted in 1986 as part of a project entitled Socioeconomic Consequences of the Aging of Population in Thailand (SECAPT). Findings indicate that despite rapid and substantial social and economic change over recent decades, the familial system of support for the Thai elderly appears still to be largely intact. This is evidenced both by the high level of co-residence of elderly parents with their adult children and the relatively common receipt of material support from children living outside the household. Whether this familial system of support will be undermined by the on-going process of social change associated with economic development remains an open question with important implications both for the future elderly themselves and the Government under which they live.