REMEASURING AGEING IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Abstract

It is a commonly held view that Southeast Asian societies are ageing rapidly. This has led to a high level of policy concern about the future capacity of states to cope with increased levels of ‘old-age dependency’ which, at first glance, often appear almost unmanageable. We suggest that the rates employed to demonstrate the present/future scale of ‘old-age dependency’ are misleading and based upon a Eurocentric notion from a bygone era. Arguing that these measurements both omit changes in life expectancy and fundamentally misconceptualise ‘old’ and ‘dependent’, we present a new series of comparative measurements based upon a dynamic view of remaining life expectancy and a more accurate concept of what it means to be ‘dependent’. These measurements simultaneously provide a more realistic and optimistic view of the future challenges of ageing in Southeast Asia.