More grandparents playing mum and dad
By The Nation
2011-03-18
The number of young children abandoned by parents to the care of grandparents has increased fivefold in the past two decades, especially in poor families in the North and Northeast, according to a Thailand Development Research Institute study released yesterday.
There are around 2.3 million households in which children are being raised by grandparents because the parents have migrated to Bangkok and cities for employment.
The number is five times larger than the figure 23 years ago, while the average age of grandparents is 65 years, said TRDI researcher Niphon Phuaphongsakorn at a seminar.
Children in such households have less chance of attending higher education, with male children pursuing undergraduate study decreasing by 25 per cent and females pursuing uppersecondary level falling by 0.2 per cent. Other factors included the behaviour and educational background of their parents.
Six in ten Thai children are living with parents, a figure that has decreased by around 1.4 per cent each year, and by more in families living upcountry.
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