Thai
civil servant Supapan Pullbangyung spends just under half of her salary on
caring for her 75-year-old father, who suffers from diabetes and dementia.
Hers is
one of many Thai families looking after elderly relatives at a cost that
countrywide adds up to just under a third of household income. The number of
families facing similar problems will balloon as the population ages at a rate
among the fastest in Southeast Asia.
Thailand's
working-age population is expected to shrink by 11 percent by 2040.
The
rising cost of care is an additional burden to households struggling with
record debt that is a drag on consumption and stunting the economy.
"I
struggled for months and it took a while to adjust," said Supapan, who
lives in Nonthaburi province, just north of the capital, Bangkok.
Looking
after her father costs at least 15,000 baht ($430) a month, she said, a little
less than half what she earns.
A culture
of filial piety in which families feel obliged to care for their elderly means
more often than not they absorb the expense of looking after parents and
grandparents.
A poor
savings culture has left many people ill-prepared to help themselves financially
in old age, meaning they must rely on working family members.
More than
a quarter of the 66 million population has not saved for old age, according to
a 2014 survey, one of many factors contributing to the government considering
raising the age of retirement from 60 and urging businesses to hire more older
people.
"It
is going to be a burden on the younger generation," said Sutayut
Osornprasop, a human development specialist at the World Bank.
Households
caring for elderly relatives spend at least 7,620 baht ($217) on them per
month, according to the Health Insurance System Research Office, a state agency
led by the Ministry of Public Health.
That's
more than 28 percent of the average 2015 monthly household income of 26,915
baht.
Kangsadan
Sagulpongmalee, 40, is a lecturer in Petchaburi province who is caring for her
70-year-old diabetic father. He underwent spinal surgery last December and is
recovering at Wellness City, a privately run complex for the elderly on 192
hectares of land near the city of Ayudhaya, north of Bangkok.
"The
cost has been very high," she said. "My salary earned as a lecturer
isn't enough at all. I have to spend my parents' life savings."
Kangsadan
plans to move her father to a house near her workplace once he has recovered so
she can look after him.
"I'm
doing whatever it takes for my parents. It'll be very expensive, but I'll try
my best to handle everything."
A lower
cost of living in Thailand's rural areas means some who move to the city for
work are considering going back to care for elderly parents.
Noppasorn
Suebsai, 21, is one of them.
"If
you live in the countryside where we don't spend as much the cost will be
less," said Noppasorn, a Bangkok-based nursing student.
"I
don't think I will struggle as much to care for my parents."
(Editing
by Amy Sawitta Lefevre, Simon Webb)
No comments:
Post a Comment