El cruce sectorial-territorial

In this study, economic hardship is the main reason for family problems including conflicts within the family. In addition, the causes of economic hardship can lead to the children’s migration, one of the common effects of economic hardship and causes of feelings of abandonment.

6.3.1 Causes of economic hardship

Presently, the Thai family is still the most important source of financial security for the elderly in old-age. Nevertheless, a decrease in the potential support ratio reflects the fact that informal financial support from the children is going to decrease, whereas the demand for financial support of the elderly is increasing (Suwanrada, 2009). Furthermore, land is an important asset in remote areas because most E-Sarn people make their living from agriculture. Thus, some families in Northeast Thailand face many difficulties from poverty (Jongudomkarn & Camfield, 2006). Economic hardship is one of the causes of feeling abandoned of the aging parents. Most Thai elderly disengage from economic activities because of changes in physical strength and health (Knodel & Chayovan, 2008). In order to get more income, the aged people in rural areas have to sell their land and some of them are still faced with economic problems because of having personal debt:

I have my own debt. I and my husband borrowed money from a bank in order to build a house and rice mill. After my husband had paralysis, I sold everything such as the land and rice mill. (participant 187N, interviewed 11/05/2008)

Hmm… In this village, there is the local community financial funding for the villagers who want to borrow money. I borrowed money from the fund around 50,000 baht in order to set up this house. After that, I sold my rice field in order to pay off this debt. However, I still had some debt to the fund and then I borrowed the money from a bank to pay off the fund. Now I still have the debt with the bank. (participant A5, interviewed 3/01/2008) Therefore, some aging parents have to let their children to work in the big cities in order to pay off debt and get more income for their families. This is the reason why many children from rural areas left their home villages to go to the big cities.

I let my children go because I would like them to get income in other cities. If they lived with me, they would have no job. I have no rice field for them to crop. Some of them would like to live with me but they had to depart from me to get jobs in other provinces. Umm…I felt sad at that time. Hmm… I have been poor ever since I was young. My husband had lung disease and he could not work. I was the only one who could work for the family. Even though I am old, I have to work for money and I am still old. I did not get any inheritance from my parents’ death. Hmm… Kem- Hug-Duang-Nerng-Ka-Bor-Dai-Num-Kaow [I did not even get a broken needle from inheritance]. (participant 277A, interviewed 17/12/2007) Most causes of economic hardship are from debt. Some elderly parents sold their rice field in order to pay off debt. This is the reason why they have no rice field for their children to work in. After the aged parents became poor, they have to face the effects of economic hardship.

6.3.2 Effects of economic hardship

Participants in this study faced a range of effects of economic hardship from having not enough food or an inability to afford one’s favourite food to eat, to having substandard housing with no funds to repair it as illustrated in Figures 6.2 and 6.3:

I have no rice field. I only have the old house. See! There are a lot of holes on the roof. In the rainy season, I could not sleep comfortably on here [She points to the bed] because I had to sleep in the corner over there. [She points to the corner of the house]. I have no money to fix it. Moreover, I have not enough rice for eating this year so I will have to borrow the rice from the neighbour who hires me to crop rice. (participant 98A, interviewed 19/12/2007)

Figure 6.2. Participant 98A’s bedroom.

I am still poor. My house has no good walls. The walls are made from bamboo. It is just a temporary wall. When the rain comes through the wall, we have to move out from upstairs and go downstairs. Some nights we cannot sleep because we have to move the stuff from the rain. Hmm…I look forward to receiving money from my daughter for setting up the permanent walls. (participant A5, interviewed 3/01/2008)

Furthermore, although the aging parents would like to live with their children, they have no rice field for children to crop and there is no job for children in the villages. Thus, it is not economic for the children to return to their home village:

I used to ask my son to come back and live with me. He says “What should I work in the village? We don’t have a rubber field for work”. (participant A4, interviewed 9/01/2008)

Yes, I would like my son to come back home but it depends on him. If he comes, he will have no job. There is no job for him in this Amphoe. (participant 277A, interviewed 17/12/2007)

Not living with children or parting from children is one thing that parents do not expect. One participant told of giving a baby daughter to a rich couple who could not have a baby, because she was poor:

I have five children but I gave a daughter to a rich married couple who are in Donjig village when she was a baby. The rich could not have a baby. Now I have four living children. I gave one child to the rich because I am poor and have no choice. (participant A4, interviewed 9/01/2008) Economic hardship is also reflected in not having enough money for looking after sick spouses and grandchildren:

Hmm…. [She breathes deeply]. I have no energy to work. I have to look after my paralysed husband and two grandchildren without money. I am not satisfied with my life….. One day my grandchildren stared at their friends’ school bag. I knew that they wanted to have a school bag but I did not have money to buy it for them. [She cries] (participant A4, interviewed 9/01/2008)

As the potential support from children decreases over time, a heavier burden will be placed on future generations to support the elderly. For the future elderly population, individual saving is one key income source. Therefore, the elderly who are in the rural areas and have economic problems are at risk (Suwanrada, 2009). In addition, the effects of poverty can lead to the worsening health of the older adults or their spouses.