Expectations and reality in meeting financial needs of Thai elderly : a gender perspective

Abstract

Using the 2007 Survey of Knowledge and Attitudes on Elderly Issues surveying respondents aged 50 to 59 and the 2017 Survey of Older Persons in Thailand surveying respondents aged 60 to 69, this study identified a cohort to examine the gap between reality and expectations of Thai elderly males and females with regards to financial sources in meeting financial needs at old age with emphasis placed on the effect of regions and education. Three models of OLS dummy regression were ran to find the magnitude, sign, and significance of the reality-expectations gap. The results of the study found that the gaps for savings and pension as an elderly financial source is similar for both males and females. While, working at old age and children remain important sources to meeting the financial needs of the Thai elderly, reality continues to disappoint with declining fertility rates. We found that the gap between expectation and reality was almost three times larger for females than for their male counterparts when it came to working at old age. Elderly financial support from their adult children were prominently linked to regional and educational differences in Thailand. The gap of children support for females living in the Northeast was about half of those living elsewhere indicating the strong intergenerational ties in the Northeast. Highly educated elders are less likely to receive support from their children with the gap for respondents with university education to be twice that of lower educated respondents. Rural elders were also more likely to work at old age given the gap for males living in Bangkok being four time larger than for males living outside Bangkok. Future policy and public allowance will inevitably play a crucial role in closing the gap of financially vulnerable individuals in Thai society.