Thailand Faces Worrying Cycle as Working-Age Adults in Their 30s and 40s Bear Growing Burdens Without Savings for the Future, Supporting Both Children and Elderly Parents

Imagine a 35-year-old person waking up every day burdened with three layers of responsibility.

The first layer is their children who need schooling, tuition fees, milk, and extracurricular activities. The second is aging parents who gradually require medical fees, medicine, and transportation to hospitals. The third layer is themselves, who barely have time or money to think about their own future.

This is the reality for many Thai working adults. This problem is shifting downward faster than expected because although the term "Sandwich Generation" is commonly known among those aged 44-59 (Gen X), who support both elderly parents and school-age children simultaneously,

recent data from Kiatnakin Phatra Bank (KKP) shows this burden is now affecting Gen Y individuals aged only 30-40 years, sooner than many anticipated.

Meanwhile, figures previously reported by the National Economic and Social Development Council indicate that Sandwich households earn an average monthly income of about 39,414 baht but spend up to 31,452 baht. This means nearly every baht earned is immediately spent, and worse, nearly half of these households have savings under 20,000 baht.

Simply put, many families are living paycheck to paycheck with almost no financial buffer for emergencies. This problem appears to be growing. The Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) estimates that total elderly expenses will rise from 2.18 trillion baht in 2023 to 3.5 trillion baht by 2033—an increase of over 60% in less than ten years. This represents a "fixed cost" that the next generation of working adults must bear both outside and inside their own homes.

At the same time, demographic structures are shifting in increasingly challenging ways. The National Statistical Office reports that the elderly dependency ratio soared from 10.7% in 1994 to 31.1% in 2024. This means that 100 working-age people must support 31 elderly individuals, and the number of elderly living alone has quadrupled during the same period.

The question then is: how well are working adults preparing for the day they themselves become elderly?

The Bank of Thailand's 2024 Financial Skills Survey found that only 14% of Thais have successfully planned for retirement as intended. More concerningly, those aged 31-60—who should be in their prime asset accumulation years—are the most likely to have not started planning or to have fallen short midway.

KKP's data compares this with the U.S., where the 2024 FINRA Foundation report shows that 80% of people with a bachelor's degree or higher have retirement savings accounts, and even 37% of those without degrees do. This gap reflects not just financial discipline but also the presence of systems and environments that facilitate easy and automatic saving, which matter as much as individual intent.

KKP's research team studying many customers found that the problem is not that Thais "do not want to save," but rather three key obstacles.

• First, people don’t know where to start because calculating retirement goals decades ahead is too complex to prioritize when current expenses are an immediate concern.
• Second, they start saving but cannot continue because emergencies or large unexpected expenses cause them to dip into their long-term savings.
• Third, they see no progress. Many investors with portfolios don’t even know if their current asset allocations will meet retirement goals, so continuously buying tax-advantaged funds without a clear overall plan is often not a real solution.

Ramesh Sasiratchapornchai, Head of Product Owner for Digital and Innovation Management at KKP, offered an insightful view that the Sandwich Generation is not neglecting retirement planning but lacks simple, time-efficient tools. People plan better and with more discipline when they clearly see what kind of life they are saving for after retirement.

In response, KKP developed the "Better Retirement" feature in the KKP Better app. It starts by asking users about the kind of retirement life they want instead of beginning with numbers and formulas. The system then analyzes this alongside current financial status to recommend personalized saving amounts and investment mixes, with tracking and plan adjustments if life circumstances change, plus visual progress updates toward the goal.

The bank’s target is modest but meaningful: increasing the retirement planning success rate among Thais from 14% to 17% would secure financial stability for over one million people. This benefits not just individual families but also reduces pressure on the next generation and lessens the eventual burden on state welfare budgets.

Ultimately, the Sandwich Generation crisis is not just about individuals "not being good savers" but stems from demographic and economic shifts outpacing financial and welfare systems. The real question is not only how individuals save but how Thai society collectively prepares to face these changes before the costs become too great for anyone to bear alone.

Source: Kiatnakin Phatra Bank (KKP)

Follow economic news and government policies with ThairathMoney athttps://www.thairath.co.th/money/economics/thai_economics

Follow the Thairath Money Facebook page at this linkhttps://www.facebook.com/ThairathMoney