SOCIAL WELFARE
Happiness in families sees drop
Bangkokians feel government has not done enough, survey shows
Most Bangkok residents feel that their family life has become less happy over the past year, with their happiness score falling from 7.99 points out of a possible 10 in September last year to just 5.63 this month, according to a survey by Assumption University.
Dr Noppadon Kannika, head of the university's Social Innovation in Management and Business Analysis Research Centre, interpreted the findings as a sign that most people felt the current interim government, installed after the September 19 coup last year, had failed to strengthen the family as a social institution.
"People don't feel that this government recognises the family as an important institution in society," he said.
The survey was conducted in Bangkok on October 5 and 6, and covered members of 1,001 families aged 18 years and older.
More than a third of the respondents - 37.2 per cent - said the government had made hardly any progress in promoting, protecting and developing the family institution.
The respondents gave the government a score of just 4.05 out of 10 for its performance in this area.
Regarding the overall state of the family institution, 71.5 per cent of the people polled said it was as bad or even worse than before. More than 90 per cent said the government had to effectively assist families in trouble and promote family values.
Problems like child prostitution, street children, divorce, separation, child-labour abuses, domestic violence and the abandonment of children, elderly and people with disabilities remained as prevalent or are even more widespread than before, the respondents said.
The survey aimed to explore people's opinions on the family as a social institution and the family promotion bill.
The majority of people polled - 86.7 per cent - said they gave utmost or quite a lot of priority to their families.
The Nation Oct. 8, 2007