Aging and the Labor Market in Thailand
Thailand’s labor market faces several challenges. Labor force participation has been declining, the shift of jobs out of the low-productivity agriculture sector has slowed, and informality is the norm. The COVID-19 outbreak has likely reinforced th...
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| Format: | Report |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2021
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/428491622713258312/Aging-and-the-Labor-Market-in-Thailand http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35691 |
| Summary: | Thailand’s labor market faces several
challenges. Labor force participation has been declining,
the shift of jobs out of the low-productivity agriculture
sector has slowed, and informality is the norm. The COVID-19
outbreak has likely reinforced these trends. Thailand’s
workforce has not transitioned to the types of jobs
involving nonroutine tasks and interpersonal communication
that increasingly characterize knowledge-driven economies.
The labor force participation of women is 20 percentage
points lower than that of men, a gap that has persisted for
two decades. Needs associated with caring for a growing
population of older people could put additional pressure on
working women. The higher labor force participation rate of
older people in rural areas reflects a need to work longer
to make ends meet despite the nearly universal Old Age
Allowance social pension. The negative effects of population
aging are not inevitable but addressing them requires
changes across labor markets and by people of all ages.
Population aging is not just about older people. The causes
of and responses to population aging are tied to the actions
of and policies affecting people of all ages. Expansions of
Thailand’s labor supply could counteract the shrinking labor
force implied by population aging. Increases in healthy life
expectancy mean that older people are likely to be able to
work longer. The large gap between male and female labor
force participation means that there is significant
potential to activate the labor supply of women. Migrants
have been filling gaps in Thailand’s labor force in recent
decades and could be better used to do so in the future. |
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