The Future of Family Support for Thai Elderly: Views of the Populace

Abstract

research team members. The team participated jointly in developing the project design and data collection. The author benefited from discussions with other team members during the preparation of this report. Special thanks go to Chanpen Saengtienchai for translating a substantial number of transcripts and summaries that form the basis of the qualitative data analysis. However, the author takes sole responsibility for the analysis and views expressed in the present report. The Future of Family Support for Thai Elderly 2 Future cohorts entering the old age span will have fewer and more dispersed children at the same time the steady decline in coresidence with children is certain to continue. These changes pose important challenges to the traditional family system of old age support and care defined mainly in terms of filial obligations of adult children and for which coresidence was a lynchpin. This study examines how near elderly parents and persons in their adult children’s ages view these changes and how they might to deal with them. A mixed method approach is used based on quantitative data from national surveys and qualitative data from open-ended interviews and discussions. The results reveal widespread awareness that family size has substantially declined and that increased migration related to education an