Household Structure and Poverty of Thai Older Persons

Abstract

This study aims to study the relationship between household structure and poverty of Thai older persons. It is a quantitative study, using the secondary data of private consumption level of older persons from a previous study on intergenerational economic transfer in Thailand 2017 and the dataset of Household Social-Economic Survey 2017. The study population are all Thai older persons aged 60 years and over. According to the findings, by comparing the private consumption level of older persons with the poverty line in 2017 (2,686 baht per month), approximately 6.6 percent of the total older persons was found living under the poverty line or in poverty. Considering the household structure of older persons (classified by household members composition by age groups), the analysis found that the older persons whose household structured with the working-ages and children were most likely to live in poverty. This was followed by the older persons whose household structured with only the working ages, with only older persons, with older persons and children and older person living alone, respectively. Other factors significantly associated with the poverty of older persons included age, education level, marital status, work status, disability, household head position, region of residence, area of residence, household debt, receiving old-age allowance, and health insurance. From these findings, it is suggested that apart from measures to directly support the older persons, the involving policy agencies should be aware of the importance and consider measures to support the working ages in older persons’ household. The measures, such as tax reduction, should aim to lessen the living expenses both directly and indirectly of the working-age who lived with older persons to enable them to have more capacity to support dependents in the household.