PATTERNS OF WORK AND RETIREMENT

It was noted earlier that most of the aged who work in ASEAN countries except Singapore are in agriculture, and that the decline in labour force participation rates as age increases is only very gradual. As shown in Tables 5.1 to 5.3, the rates are universally higher in rural than in urban areas. This probably reflects, not so much the need for the aged to work, but rather the integrated household economy in the rural areas, in which the elderly play a variety of roles. These include continued participation in the management of and actual physical work in the farm holding, in return for their support from the proceeds of the household's economic activities, support which normally continues after they have become too old to perform any economically productive activities.

Table 5.4, showing the reasons for stopping work among those who have stopped, supports this general thesis. Aside from the reason “reached retirement age”, which was particularly important for males in Singapore and the Philippines and probably reflects mainly formal sector government and private employment, the main reason given for stopping work was “ill health”. This would certainly not be the case in Western societies, where standard retirement ages apply and pension systems then take effect, and where the proportion of the workforce who are employees is much higher. But in ASEAN countries, some level of involvement in the work-force is normal until increased ill health related to ageing makes this no longer possible. This continued involvement in the work-force helps provide the justification for the aged to maintain their status as head of household.

Table 5.5 (for Thailand and the Philippines) confirms the tendency for old people in these societies to continue to work as long as they are physically capable of it. Even among the group aged 75+, around half of all respondents wanted to work.

SOURCES OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT

In Western countries, social security is the most prevalent source of income for aged individuals.