Ageing in Asia-Pacific

Interdisciplinary and Comparative Perspectives

Thomas R. Klassen, Masa Higo, Nopraenue S. Dhirathiti, Theresa W. Devasahayam, Thomas R. Klassen, Masa Higo, Nopraenue S. Dhirathiti, Theresa W. Devasahayam

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781351377218
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business generale
• Index: Business

In the coming decades, challenges and risks associated with rapid population ageing will be paramount in Asia-Pacific. Examining key trends, dilemmas and developments with reference to specific nations, the book draws conclusions and policy recommendations that apply to Asia-Pacific as a whole. Individual chapters focus on the impact of population ageing, along with urbanization and industrialization, on the lives of people in the region. The book shows how leaders in Asia-Pacific – political, community and others – need to respond to changes in family and social structures, disease pathology, gender roles, income security, the care of older citizens and the provision of social and health welfare.

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The impacts of the demographic transition in Asia-Pacific

Thomas R. Klassen, Masa Higo, Nopraenue S. Dhirathiti, and Theresa W. Devasahayam

Introduction

Asia-Pacific plays a central role in the economic, political, social, and cultural landscape of the world. Reflecting the relative recent rise of the prominence of this region of the globe, interest among researchers, students, policy-makers, and practitioners in aspects of Asia-Pacific has steadily increased (Johnson 2014; Klassen, Cepiku and Lah 2017). A significant feature of Asia-Pacific is population ageing and the impact of this demographic transition on the individual experience of ageing and on how old age is conceived by communities and policy-makers. Population ageing is global and is one of the momentous trends of the twenty-first century (United Nations 2012). Observers have noted, “It is not hyperbole to say that the ageing of the global population will be among the most important phenomena driving policy around the world over the next number of decades” (Zimmer and McDaniel 2016, p. 1). The demographic transition has impacts not only on the life cycle of individuals, but also policies, social institutions, and cultural legacies that have long supported the economic, social, and cultural lives of the elderly around the world (Troyansky 2016).

The demographic trends in Asia-Pacific mean that many countries in the region will have a growing number and proportion of older persons in their population. Compared to the West, research on aspects of ageing in Asia-Pacific is still at an early stage but is more and more an area of concern for researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners. At present, there is relatively little scholarship in English on the unique conditions of, and responses from, governments, civil society, employers, and individuals to population ageing and the impact of this demographic shift on various aspects of people’s lives in Asia-Pacific. This book makes a timely contribution to understanding ageing in Asia-Pacific, using empirical experiences from diverse economic and cultural contexts in the region with a focus on the causes and implications of the demographic shift. The chapters in the volume examine the important socio-economic and health consequences of ageing across different national, economic, social, and cultural contexts, including an examination of nations such as Myanmar that have received little attention from scholars. Concluding with policy prescriptions, the volume is a fresh and current analysis of the demographic and epidemiological transition engulfing Asia-Pacific.

Contribution of the book

Three suppositions find expression, in one way or another, in each chapter and in the manuscript as a whole. First, that among Asia-Pacific countries, there is significant variation in the timing and speed of population ageing, which serves as a showcase of the diverse aspects of the demographic transition. For instance, over the past decades Japan has been far ahead of the rest of the world on the ageing curve, while South Korea is currently experiencing the world’s fastest population ageing. China has just began to age rapidly and will in the decades ahead host the world’s largest number of old people (Chen and Powell 2012). Many Southeast Asian countries, with still young populations but rapidly declining fertility and increasing life expectancy, are beginning to recognize the effects that population ageing will have upon them in the decades to come (Harper 2016). Within Asia-Pacific, Australia and New Zealand appear unique with regard to ageing and old age, but this uniqueness becomes much less pronounced when analyzed in comparative perspective, with much of the distinctiveness due to the level of economic development and creation of robust welfare states that has lengthened lifespans (Kowal, Towers and Byles 2014). The second assumption of the book is that in Asia-Pacific there is more variation than in other regions of the world in the social institutions and cultural legacies that influence ageing and old age. Of particular note in this regard are family structure, living arrangements, intergenerational relations, and religious beliefs and institutions. The diverse social institutions and cultural legacies mean that similar demographic trends find expression in a myriad of ways.

The third supposition that guides this book is that Asia-Pacific as a whole is distinct from Europe and North America in the way in which population ageing shapes and reshapes social institutions and cultural legacies, including the welfare state (Scharf and Keating 2012). Gro Harlem Brundtland, a past prime minister of Norway and former head of the World Health Organization, noted with farsightedness nearly two decades ago, “While the developed countries became rich before they became old, the developing countries will become old before they become rich” (Brundtland 2002). Albeit simplistic, this observation applies to many countries in Asia-Pacific, especially those outside of East Asia and the Pacific. Over the coming decades all nations of Asia-Pacific will face challenges and risks associated with ageing and old age, and these hazards will arguably be more pronounced than for Europe and North America. How the region, with more than 4.2 billion residents or nearly 60 percent of the world’s population, fares in the demographic transition will be critical not only for the welfare of its inhabitants but also globally.

Overall, the book accomplishes five goals. First, to offer up-to-date comparative analyses of ageing in Asia-Pacific, including demographic, epidemiological, social, political, health, and economic aspects. Second, to impart a current summary and synthesis of key aspects of ageing in several countries in the region including gender, social policies, and well-being. Third, to compare and contrast ageing both within the region and across the region to highlight how similar trends are shaping the life course regardless of place of residence. Fourth, to provide applied policy insights based on the experience of the different countries in the region to facilitate policy learning. Fifth, to encourage students as well as researchers in exploring emerging issues on ageing and the elderly in the Asia-Pacific region.

The book examines countries at different stages of the demographic transition, with distinct socio-cultural systems and institutional provisions for older persons. The aim of the specific country analyses is to show that each nation is unique, but at the same time also representative of trends that are occurring in other nations in Asia-Pacific. As such, the volume is not a series of case studies of countries in Asia-Pacific or a handbook that provides a nation-by-nation overview. Rather the book is an integrated whole that portrays the experience of ageing and old age regardless of place of residence, and examines the policy dilemmas faced by decision-makers in all jurisdictions in the region.

A large audience will find this book to be of value given the wide-ranging and seminal impacts of the demographic transition throughout Asia-Pacific. First, the book will be of interest to academic researchers studying ageing and gerontology in Asia-Pacific including those working on comparative perspectives on ageing. Second, for instructors at postsecondary institutions of learning, the book is source of material for advanced undergraduates or beginning graduate students. Third, policy-makers and planners will find much in these pages of utility and value as they prepare their communities to adapt and prosper during the demographic transition. Fourth, practitioners and those in non-government organizations looking for cross-disciplinary work will find the chapters a fertile source of ideas and starting points for enriching their services. Last, for general readers the book is a quick reference on trends and developments in Asia-Pacific with regard to ageing and old age. This book avoids the categorization of academic disciplines, such as gerontology, demography, epidemiology, economics, sociology, political science, and so forth. Rather, the authors have written holistic chapters that each draw on a range of scholarly perspectives and traditions, as well as empirical sources. The result, as the title of the volume alludes to, is a collection that is a showcase for both interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary perspectives.

Including the Pacific and countries such as Australia and New Zealand may strike the reader as atypical, but the investigation of those two nations in the chapters in the book demonstrate that the same general trends, pressures, and policy responses in other parts of Asia are present in the Pacific. In viewing Asia-Pacific as a single region, the book recognizes that demographic trends and the impact of rapidly ageing populations, including changes in the life course as well as economic development, are not constrained by arbitrary political boundaries. Others who have also treated Asia-Pacific as a single region for the purposes of studying ageing have found this to be a fruitful and rich approach (Phillips 2000). Readers seeking other recent manuscripts on Asia as a whole can refer to Active Ageing in Asia (Walker and Aspalter 2015), as well to the references at the end of this chapter and other chapters. In addition, readers interested in gender can refer to Gender and Ageing: Southeast Asian Perspectives (Devasahayam 2014). This book – Ageing in the Asia-Pacific: Interdisciplinary and comparative Perspectives – is a timely successor to two earlier books that sought to treat Asia-Pacific as one region with respect to ageing by focusing on the common elements across the region and to place events in the region in a comparative context: the first, Ageing in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues, Policies and Future Trends (Phillips 2000), and the second, Ageing in Asia: Asia’s Position in the New Global Demography (Goodman and Harper 2008).

Overview of contents

Five thematically linked sections comprise this book. The first section, Chapters 2 and 3, provide an overview of broad developments in the demographic transition within Asia-Pacific and more widely. These chapters introduce the topics that remaining chapters explore in more detail. Second, Chapters 4 to 7 are on East Asia and recognizing the emerging nature of welfare states in this region focus on health care, income security, and gender. The third section, Chapters 8 to 14, is on nations in Southeastern and Southern Asia with a focus on social policy and the responses from individual communities. The third section, Chapters 8 to 14, in on nations in Southeastern and Southern Asia with a focus on social policy and the responses from individuals communities, and analyzing the unique dynamics of ageing in the that part of Asia including the shifting role of the family. Section four, Chapters 15 and 16, turn to Australia and New Zealand to trace how population ageing is proceeding in two high-income nations with mature welfare states. The fifth and last section of the book, composed of Chapter 17, outlines the conclusions and policy recommendations related to the demographic transition in Asia-Pacific. Each chapter is introduced below.

In Chapter 2, “Ageing and old age in modern society,” Masa Higo from Kyushu University in Japan examines the social context that shapes the individual experience of growing older. He finds that during industrialization there is a standardization of the life course, followed by a relaxation of these standards once a society has reached a high level of urbanization and economic development. Beginning with the experience of Western Europe and North America in the construction and reconstruction of the life course after industrialization, the chapter explains some of the major implications of the greater diversity of the life course as more and more parts of Asia-Pacific reach economically advanced status.

In Chapter 3, David R. Phillips of Lingnan University in Hong Kong traces the major contours of ageing in Asia-Pacific placing these into context with other regions of the world. His chapter, “Asia-Pacific and global population ageing,” identifies how changes in fertility rates and life expectancy have had dramatic impacts on social and family structures. These changes include smaller family size; delayed marriage, higher rates of non-marriage and divorce; declines in family support and filial piety; and potential social exclusion and isolation of older persons. These shifts in behaviour and longer-term trends raise major challenges for formal and informal care, health and welfare provision. Increasing social risks, including elderly poverty, health, and environmental challenges for older persons mean that all nations in Asia-Pacific, and beyond, face dilemmas in responding to the demographic transition.

While Chapters 2 and 3 furnish the conceptual and demographic context for the book, Chapter 4 is the first one to focus on a particular nation. Yang Cheng from Beijing Normal University, Jie Yu from Maastricht University in the Netherlands, and Mark W. Rosenberg from Queen’s University in Canada examine China. Their chapter, “The changing face of the older population in urban and rural China,” examines the impact of rapid demographic and economic changes on the older people in rural and urban China. The analysis of the chapter is on the dual provision of rural-urban health care, the pension and social service systems for the older population, and the challenge the older cohort faces as filial piety is questioned by younger generations. The urban–rural divide is not restricted to China, or indeed to Asia-Pacific. Other chapters in this volume (such as Chapters 10, 11, and 12) also examine, within specific national contexts, how population ageing in rural regions is different from that in urban areas, regardless of how economically advanced a nation might be.

Chapter 5, on South Korea, highlights a second theme that runs through many chapters of this book: gender. Yunjeong Yang, from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul, South Korea, in her chapter “Women and gender ideology in ageing Korea,” identifies the greater risks that women face in old age, and particularly in a society that is rapidly ageing. Her chapter, and others in the book, shows that gender matters in old age, as it does in earlier parts of the life course with women facing a higher risk of financial and social vulnerabilities as they grow older. This chapter describes the situation of larger numbers of older persons in Korean society: relatively poor, lonely, and increasingly requiring long-term care services. The social expectations that Korean women face – such as assuming the role as main family caregiver regardless of their involvement in paid work – are the root cause of the disadvantages many encounter over their lifespan. The chapter, in a theme continued in other chapters of this book, stresses changing gender roles as both a cause, and a result, of the demographic transition.

In Chapter 6, Tsung-hsi Fu from the National Taiwan University examines the particular dilemmas associated with providing income security for a rapidly ageing population. His chapter, “Ageing policies in Taiwan: recent achievements and unresolved challenges,” reviews the latest Tawainese policy reforms related to ageing, in particular to income maintenance, long-term care, and active ageing. These three areas are ones that dominate government actions in respect to older people, and are critical in determining the quality of life for older citizens. The recent achievements of Taiwan as well as the challenges that it continues to face are relevant to other nations in Asia-Pacific and beyond. The ability of the state and family – regardless of the GNP of a nation – to ensure income security for older persons, many of who are no longer in the labour force, is a theme that other chapters explore (such as 12 and 15).

Hong Kong, like Taiwan and Korea, is a high-income part of Asia, with a rapidly growing population of older people. In Chapter 7, “Growing old in Hong Kong: responding to an increasingly frail population,” Joelle H. Fong from the National University of Singapore studies how one sub-set of the elderly – namely the frail elderly – has become a subject of increased policy and research attention, and an important public health challenge. She examines aspects of health among older adults in Hong Kong and other parts of Asia, drawing attention to the altered social circumstances of older persons in these economies. The chapter is a case study of functional disability at older ages, and the responses of governments and communities.

Chapter 8, “Current laws, policies and practices for older persons in Viet Nam,” turns away from East Asia to rapidly developing Viet Nam. Vu Ngoc Binh of the Institute for Population, Family and Children in Ha Noi analyzes the country’s policies and practices in respect to the older population, with a focus on human rights. The protection of promotion of human rights, especially individual ones, arose in the West after the Second World War. However, as the chapter illustrates, the discourse of human rights now has an influence in parts of Asia-Pacific beyond Australia and New Zealand. The chapter also explores the multigenerational relationships of the older persons in Viet Nam, including family support and living arrangements including the role of co-residential living arrangements.

Following the topic of multigenerational relationships, Chapter 9, “Growing old in Singapore: workings of the Many Helping Hands policy approach,” shows how the government in Singapore emphasizes the family as the main source of care for older persons. Leng Leng Thang of the National University of Singapore and Suen Johan of the University of Cambridge argue that despite the recent comm...