12 - Support Transfers between Elderly Parents and Adult Children in Indonesia

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The success of Indonesia's population policy, particularly the family planning programme, has resulted in lowering the fertility rate as indicated by the decrease in the total fertility rate (TFR) from 5.6 in 1967 to 2.3 in 2000. Conversely, the combination of low fertility with rising life expectancies has resulted in accelerating the population ageing process. An Indonesian population census shows that there is a significant increase in the proportion of elderly from 4.5 per cent of the total population in 1971 to 7.2 per cent in 2000. Compared with other developed countries (North America, Europe and Japan), the proportion of Indonesian elderly is lower, however, in terms of absolute numbers, the number of Indonesian elderly in 2000 was about 14 million, close to the number of older people in the Netherlands in 2001, which was about 16 million. It is projected that the proportion of the elderly will increase to 12.7 per cent, or equal to 37 million in 2025 (Demographic Institute 1999).

The industrialization process has led to changes in family relations in Indonesia. For example, because industrialization provided various wage employment to many household members, the proportion of households getting income from family businesses, such as from farms and shops, had decreased. Instead, more households had come to rely on income from wage employment, either from formal or informal jobs. The relation between parents (elderly) and adult children are less inter dependent in part because the children are more independent as they have their own income. Finally, since industrialization largely took place in the urban areas, it has led to the migration of young people to the cities. Therefore, according to Mason (1992), the effect of industrialization on the situation of the elderly may be less co-residence with adult children in the rural areas.

Some studies on Asia have shown that the proportion of elderly who coreside with adult children has decreased over time. The decreasing proportion of co-residence does not necessarily mean an erosion of support and care of the elderly by family members (Mason 1992). In Asia, including in Indonesia, family support remains high.