The new Asian Active Ageing Index: a case study of gender differences between two ASEAN member countries, Indonesia and Thailand

The speed of population ageing is among the fastest in ASEAN countries. For policy learning, this trend requires a high-quality, independent comparative evidence base. The demographic change has strong implications for sustainable development, especially in the view of the commitment to “leave no one behind” made in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The new Asian Active Ageing Index, which is presented in this paper, quantifies the extent to which older people have been able to and can realize their socioeconomic potential. Using the two most populous member States of ASEAN as examples, Indonesia and Thailand, the Index is sensitized to the Asia-Pacific cultural norms, such as the role of older persons in the society and the informal nature of contributions of older persons to their families and communities. On the basis of the overall Asian Active Ageing Index, Thailand scores better than Indonesia (index value of 59.7 versus 50.6). Older persons in both countries tend to be physically and mentally capable, which explains their high employment rates and the level of support they offer to their family members. The focus of active and healthy ageing strategies for sustainable development should, therefore, be directed towards supporting older persons in continuing to stay actively engaged with the help of flexible retirement plans and age-friendly environments. Older women are more likely to fall behind than men in both countries, especially in terms of employment and in financial resources, making gender mainstreaming necessary. Older women, however, outperform older men in the indicators related to care provision to children and grandchildren and life expectancy at age 60 in both countries. As the incidence of disability increases with age, interventions in improving health outcomes need to be prioritized, particularly for older women who live alone. The Asian Active Ageing Index offers a useful toolkit for monitoring and evaluating the evidencebased policies for older men and women across various domains of the Sustainable Development Goals.