Support Systems in Old Age: Its Nature and Extent in Rural Bangladesh Kaniz Quamrun Nahar Chhabi (Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Science and Technology: Shinshu University)

摘要

Socio-economic and demographic transitions in a country affect the provision of support to the older people. Such transitions are eroding the family support system in Asian countries (Apt, 1993), which is a matter of concern today. Traditionally, support in old age in many Asian countries like Bangladesh has primarily come from the family (Ofstedal, Knodel, and Chayovan, 1999). There are numerous socio-demographic changes in Bangladesh that may affect the support in old age. Increases in life expectancy at birth have resulted in an increase in the number of older people, and a decline in fertility has resulted in smaller family size; this phenomenon may have repercussions for the support to older people in Asian countries (Knodel and Debavalya, 1992). This is also true for Bangladesh, where the support of older people has traditionally been the responsibility of their children. The increased involvement of women in economic activities and fragmentation of families with rural-urban and internationalmigration have also changed the support system for the elderly in rural Bangladesh. Despite its significance, systematic research on the support systems for the elderly in Bangladesh has not yet begun on a wide scale. However, a few studies have been conducted on this subject. They showed that the tendency to receive support is greater for men than for women, and while men are the main providers of material support, women provide practical and emotional support (Kabir, Szebehely, and Tishelman, 2002).It is important to investigate the nature of support received from families and other sources in the rural areas of Bangladesh, where traditionally integrated families are disintegrating day by day. Keeping the above views in mind, the present study aimsto explore the nature and extent of the various forms of support for older people as well as the sources of support in the changing environment of rural Bangladesh.