Living Arrangements of the Elderly in Bangkok, Thailand: Impacts of Low Fertility, Life-courses, and Non-marriage
Open Access
- Author:
- Durand, Yoshie Moriki
- Graduate Program:
- Anthropology
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- February 23, 2007
- Committee Members:
- Patricia Lyons Johnson, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
James William Wood, Committee Member
Gordon F De Jong, Committee Member
Mark D Hayward, Committee Member - Keywords:
- Living arrangements
Thailand
Low fertility - Abstract:
- The primary focus of this dissertation is the living arrangements of elderly people in Bangkok, Thailand. The specific research questions are constructed around three major topics: the determinants of living arrangements; the dynamics of living arrangements; and the function of living arrangements. These issues are examined both quantitatively and qualitatively, using data collected during one year of fieldwork. A questionnaire schedule, designed to follow the lives of elderly respondents in a flexible manner, was used to collect over 1,000 cases of representative data from the entire Bangkok Metropolis. In-depth life history interviews were also conducted with both elderly parents and their co-residing children, producing a total of 28 taped, transcribed, and translated interviews. Contextual information gathered through such ethnographic approaches as participant observation in the life of Bangkok residents further added valuable qualitative data. Analyses of the determinants of living arrangements have shown that the number of surviving children is a significant determinant of co-residence, suggesting that the future elderly with considerably fewer available children are less likely to live with a child in their old age. However, as suggested by the powerful positive effects of having never-married children, these children may contribute to the maintenance of co-residence; despite the lowered availability of children, if one child remains never-married, that child can co-reside with the parent. Because the marriage of children is a major risk for the loss of co-residing children, and conflicts with in-laws in extended families are obstacles for co-residence, never-married children are structurally more suited for co-residence. Moreover, the continuity of co-residence over time suggests that the children’s decisions to remain at home are critical in ensuring co-residence in later life. In contrast to a common assumption, however, the results have found that household structures per se are not major determinants of the elderly’s economic security, while such factors as the health status of the elderly and the socio-economic status of children are more important. Significant contributions of the elderly to their households, economically and otherwise, also suggest a need to reconsider the function of co-residence, particularly with never-married children.