Author: Boonsom Namsomboon
AIT Library Call Number: AIT Diss. no.GD-11-01
Year: 2011
Academic Program: Gender and Development Studies (GDS)
Type: Thesis (Ph.D.) – Asian Institute of Technology, 2011
Examination Committee: Kyoko Kusakabe (Chairperson); Bernadette P. Resurreccion, L.A.S. Ranjith Perera, Sharit K. Bhowmik (Examination Committee Members)
Abstract: Exclusion from state-provided social security systems is complex and this study aimed to investigate the various reasons as well as the mechanisms whereby women home-based workers access social security. It was necessary to examine the ways in which homeworkers address risks such as sickness, death, disability, old age, childbirth and so on in the context of their characteristic. The value of such research is in the identification of their priority needs as workers and as women. Through examination of the existing social security systems in Thailand (as provided by both state and non-state agencies), and by means of the assessment of home-based workers’ access to those services, the researcher could analyze the accessibility of social security services. This information could facilitate the drafting of guidelines for the development of more accessible state and non-state social security systems for woman homeworkers and understanding the constraints of the patriarchal system in which they live. Most workers in the informal economy have not been able to access social security schemes that the state has provided to the formal sector workers. Those who could make use of government schemes were those who were well-informed. Those who had difficulty had little information, perhaps due to discrimination had low economic status and did not have enough capabilities. The government provision of health services through the ’30 Baht scheme’, Health Centres, and Community Health Centres was shown to have limitations. The results from the study show that less than half of the respondents were able to access healthcare service provided by the state. The reasons for those who did not use ‘universal healthcare coverage’ were related to administrative discrimination, travel expenses, hospital subsidies, distrust of services, lack of correct information, time constraints, and need for other supp01i. However, there were some of the respondents who were satisfied with treatment received and benefitted from the scheme. The study f
Scholarship Donor(s):
Note: A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Gender and Development Studies, School of Environment, Resources and Development
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