Time Banking for Aging Society ธนาคารเวลาสำหรับสังคมสูงวัย

Abstract

In 2021, Thailand will become a full-scale aging society when 20% of the population will be over sixty years old. This will cause significant societal changes, and it is very important that the country is prepared to deal with problems arising from being an aging society. An effective social welfare system is needed. Time banking system may serve as a key tool for coping with aging society. This article investigates the possibility of establishing time bank in Bangkok and vicinity by conducting a large-scale survey in the areas and using descriptive statistics and chi-square test of significance to determine the interests in joining time bank. It was found that nearly all respondents (90.2%) had never heard about time bank, and more than half of them indicated that they would like to become members. In terms of service activities, there were matches between receiving and offering services in the areas of helping with household chores and escorting people to doctor visits. This reflected that members could fulfill the needs of one another. As for the underlying factors affecting the degree of interest in joining time bank, it was found that gender and income had no correlation with a desire to join time bank, whereas the age of respondents seemed to be a significant factor. People of different ages had different levels of interest in becoming members. There was a notably low interest among people over 60 years old. If time bank is to be used as a key tool for solving aging society problems, further strategy is needed to attract senior citizens. In general, the study reveals that it is possible to establish a time bank in the urban areas of Thailand.