In many parts of Asia, governments tend to emphasize the role of family in providing care for the elderly as a shared responsibility between the state and the family. Living with family members or relatives are also the ‘ideal’ condition aspired by many older adults. The PRAKARSA’s research on elderly welfare and social protection (2020) showed that nearly two-third of the elderly idealized living with their own family members as their preferred residential arrangement. However, nearly one in ten elderly lived alone (Indonesian Socioeconomic Survey, 2020) with different underlying reasons. Some were forced to because they had no child, spouse, neglected by their family or left by their offspring who looked for jobs in distant urban areas–hence less visits and care. Without proper caregiving, most of them must depend on charity of their neighbors or non-family community members to survive. The latter often are not in the best condition to help either in low-resource setting. Our research showed that Indonesia still have a lot of homework to do in light of its rapid population aging, including to ensure that its elderly are taken care of by the state and not relied upon community members which might not have adequate resources to support. We recommend the government to expand supporting infrastructures to build more nursing homes or state-supported community caregiving facilities especially for those at the bottom desiles of the income groups. The expansion can be in terms of improving the quantity or quality of state support.

Authors:
Victoria Fanggidae, The PRAKARSA, Indonesia
Eka Afrina Djamhari, The PRAKARSA, Indonesia

About the Presenter(s)
Dr Victoria Fanggidae is currently the Deputy Director of The PRAKARSA, a Jakarta-based think tank in Indonesia. She is currently applying for a research grant on ageing discourses with researchers from The PRAKARSA and Sheffield University, UK.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Wednesday Schedule

Bookmark