Does being old mean being poor? Evidence from Thailand

This paper studies the links between poverty and being old by analyzing how important age is as a risk factor for poverty and whether the determinants of poverty change with the age of the household head. The multivariate regression analysis uses probit estimation techniques applied to nationally representative household survey data for Thailand. The results show that the role of age in explaining the probability of a household being poor is very small once other socioeconomic aspects are considered and that most of the determinants of poverty remain the same across different age cohorts. The policy implications of these findings disentangling age and poverty are particularly relevant for aging societies: tackling poverty requires structural initiatives addressing the socioeconomic disadvantages of individuals and their families across all age groups.