Gender and Ageing in Thailand.pdf

Gender and Ageing in Thailand: A Situation Analysis of Older Women and Men John Knodel Population Studies Center University of Michigan Napaporn Chayovan College of Population Studies Chulalongkorn University Population Studies Center Report 08-664 December 2008 This report has been prepared for presentation at the Workshop on Gender and Ageing sponsored by the Institute of South East Asia Studies, Singapore, 10-11 February 2009. A Situation Analysis of Gender and Aging in Thailand 2 Introduction Gender equity and population ageing are two very prominent issues in discussions related to social and economic development. Both have been the focus of multiple international forums sponsored by the United Nations. Indeed the importance of gender in relation to ageing was one theme highlighted by the 2002 Second World Assembly on Ageing (UN 2002). Social researchers have also focused on the interaction between gender and ageing resulting in numerous journal articles and several edited book volumes (e.g. UN INSTRAW ) 1999; Metha 1997 and 2004; Trosi Pawiliczko 2008). Typically the focus has been on inequalities that disadvantage women, often implying that women are both more vulnerable and disadvantaged with respect to virtually all dimensions of well-being whether they be social, economic or health related. Little attention has been given to the possibility that older men and women may share similar vulnerabilities or even that men may be more disadvantaged than women in particular respects (Knodel Ofstedal 2003). To understand more fully the intersection of gender and the well-being in older ages, there needs to be recognition that gender diffe