More than 5 million senior Thais still work without formal education

The National Bureau of Statistics (NSO) reveals that more than five million Thai seniors, the majority of whom have no formal education, continue to work to earn a living. This demographic group represents about 19.5% of the country’s 66 million residents, or 13.64 million people aged 60 and over, according to the annual NSO survey conducted in July and August of the previous year.

Suwannee Wangkan, deputy director of the NSO, announced that the number of seniors who need to work – about 37.5% of the population over 60 – increased from 4.74 million in 2022 to the current 5.11 million. Men accounted for 48.1% of this workforce, while women made up 29.4%.

The older population mainly lives in the northeastern, northern and southern regions of Thailand. In Bangkok alone, almost a quarter of seniors have a job.

In addition, the NSO noted an increase in the number of elderly people who live and work in isolation. Of the 5.11 million seniors who have a job, as many as 68.1% never went to school or only completed primary school. Another 15.6% did not complete primary school, 11.3% never completed high school, and 5% did not complete college.

The division of labor among seniors shows that 59.3% are employed in the agricultural and fishing sectors, 30.5% in the service sector and the remaining 10.2% in manufacturing. The average monthly income for an older worker is 12,151 baht, while those in agriculture earn an average of 5,796 baht.

The NSO has also identified a significant proportion of older workers in informal jobs who do not have access to social security benefits. A worrying 86.8% experience job instability. The NSO has recommended that government agencies, including the Ministry of Labor, devise strategies to support the growing older workforce and ensure better well-being, such as fair wages and employment.

The NSO’s Household Economic and Social Situation Survey 2023 shows that rural households earn an average monthly income of 29,030 baht. Of this income, 70.5% comes from daily wages, salaries, corporate profits and agricultural products, while 14.5% comes from non-monetary sources.

The average monthly expenditure per household is 23,695 baht, with the three largest expenditure categories being food and water (35.3%), housing and rental payments (21.9%) and travel-related costs including vehicle payments (16%).

Households have an average total debt of 197,255 baht, of which 77.7% is related to housing costs such as the purchase or rental of houses or land, consumer payments and education debt. The remaining 22.3% of the debt is related to investments and other reasons, Bangkok Post reported

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