Care at home: Projecting Thailand’s need for national and migrant labour for home-based care for older persons

While the majority of Thai older persons receive care from an unpaid family member, others rely on paid care workers, primarily in their homes. Currently, half of paid care workers in homes are domestic workers, and the other half are public or privately funded nurses, nurse assistants, and community care workers, among others. The study uses a mixed methodology approach that considers both quantitative and qualitative data and employs foresight analysis. 

It projects that, by 2037, there will be a minimum 70 per cent increase in the need for care of older persons in Thailand. This lowest level estimate assumes unchanged working conditions, with workers sacrificing labour rights, including caps on hours and overtime pay, and does not close the care gap for those who cannot access and afford care at home. In the scenario where care gaps are closed and decent working conditions are implemented under Ministerial Regulation No. 15 on the Protection of Domestic Workers may require recruiting over 250,000 additional paid care workers - more than 13 times the current number - with an estimated 55,000 being migrant workers.