Social and psychological implications of actual and defacto childlessness among older persons in East and Southeast Asia

We examine how ageing without children is linked to older adults’ social participation and psychological distress in selected East and Southeast Asian countries (South Korea, China, Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar). Recognizing the nuances of such ageing experiences, we distinguish between actual childlessness (older persons without children) and defacto childlessness (older persons whose children all lived far away). We harmonize and analyze recent nationally representative survey data from the five abovementioned countries, utilizing both descriptive and multivariate approaches. First, we investigate the prevalence and dimensions of actual and defacto childlessness. Second, we examine the extent to which actual and defacto childlessness are associated with social participation and psychological distress in old age. The analyses focus on gender and wealth differences. We find that actual childlessness is associated with lower levels of social participation in Southeast Asian countries and greater levels of psychological distress in Korea, Thailand, and Myanmar. The effects of defacto childlessness are, however, mixed. We discuss the social and psychological implications of childlessness for older adults across varying societal contexts in the five Asian countries.