Aging society caused the “Sandwich Generation” in Thailand that individuals who are responsible for caring for both their elderly parents and their own children.
Deputy secretary general to the National Economic and Social Development Council Worawan Plikhamin said aging society caused the “Sandwich Generation” in Thailand that individuals who are responsible for caring for both their elderly parents and their own children.
She said the “Sandwich Generation” refers to individuals who are responsible for caring for both their elderly parents
and their own children. A growing trend due to the increasing global aging population and a steady
or decreasing number of working individuals, which has led many countries to experience a rise of people in the Sandwich Generation.
In Thailand, there are limit studies on this group. However, in terms of definition, extend households, consisting of three or more generations, can be consider as Sandwich Households.
3.4 million households with Sandwich characteristics
Ms Worawan said insights from the Household Socio-Economic Survey conducted
by the National Statistical Office reveal notable characteristics of such households:
- 1) In 2023, Thailand had 3.4 million households with Sandwich characteristics, accounting for 14 % of all households, a decrease from 2017. Most of these households are three-generation families.
- 2) Despite the working-age majority, these sandwich households face
high dependency rates due to an increasing proportion of elderly members and a declining proportion of working-age individuals.
- 3) Most Sandwich Household members are informal workers, with 47.2 % engaged in agriculture or general labor, while 31.9 % of household heads work in the private sector.
Consequently, over 80 % lack secure income for retirement. In addition, these households possess few financial assets for savings.
- 4) Sandwich Households spend a greater share of income on consumption compared to other groups. Most of these households have relatively low incomes, largely due to lower levels of education.
49.1% of Sandwich households are financial vulnerability
From this condition, despite a declining trend in Sandwich Households, individuals within the Sandwich Generation
continue to face significant challenges, notably:1) Financial vulnerability: as 49.1 % of Sandwich households possess less than 10 % of net income, with around 69.8 % still burdened by debt. Moreover, the debt-to-income (per month) ratio in these households surpasses the national average, potentially hindering their long-term financial stability. 2) Health impacts, as the Sandwich Generation is particularly prone to chronic diseases,
with a higher prevalence of household heads having experienced non-communicable diseases (NCDs) compared to the national average for household heads.
Moreover, they face elevated levels of stress and mental health issues,
likely stemming from the dual demands of managing work responsibilities and caregiving of family members.
Solutions to ease burden among Sandwich households
She said several measures could be implemented to alleviate the burdens on Sandwich Households, including:
- 1) Promoting financial literacy since before the retirement;
- 2) Facilitating elderly employment for the elderly who wish to work through skill training and proactive job matching, along with better access to financial resources;
- 3) Utilizing care assistant services and technology in household to help facilitate, enabling individuals to balance between family obligations and work commitments.
- 4) Supporting child and elderly care centers by improving the childcare and elderly care facilities, or supporting the business sector to operate. This includes providing legal incentives to stimulate business growth and availability in communities.
Related News : NESDC warned risk of NPLs of home loans under 3 million baht
