Skip to main content
. 2024 Jan 9;79(4):gbad193. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbad193

Table 2.

Socioeconomic Distribution Across Countries

SES measure Australia China Indonesia Japan New Zealand South Korea Thailand
Education
 No schooling 9,949 (41.4%) 6,002 (44.5%) 1,843 (16.5%) 130 (3.5%)
 Primary (or less) 3,393 (40.5%) 6,345 (26.4%) 3,463 (25.7%) 1,798 26.4%) 2,613 (40.9%) 4,678 (41.9%) 3,114 (38.3%)
 Secondary 3,267 (39.0%) 7,137 (29.7%) 3,042 (22.6%) 3,928 (57.7%) 3,180 (49.7%) 3,416 (30.6%) 494 (13.2%)
 Tertiary 1,717 (20.5%) 601 (2.5%) 974 (7.2%) 1,089 (16.0%) 601 (9.4%) 1,234 (11.1%)
Education in years
 Low 2,793 (33.4%) 9,949 (41.4%) 6,002 (44.5%) 2,132 (33.4%) 4,696 (42.0%)
 Middle 2,792 (33.3%) 6,345 (26.4%) 3,463 (25.7%) 2,131 (33.3%) 5,025 (45.0%)
 High 2,792 (33.3%) 7,738 (32.2%) 4,016 (29.8%) 2,131 (33.3%) 1,450 (3.0%)
Occupation
 Manual 1,931 (15.3%) 4,124 (36.9%)
 Farmers 2,437 (29.1%)a 4,073 (32.3%) 1,492 (13.4%)
 Lower nonmanual 2,181 (26.0%)a 5,538 (43.9%) 4,257 (38.1%)
 Upper nonmanual 3,759 (45.9%)a 1,067 (8.5%) 1,298 (11.6%)

Notes: Occupation was not available in CHARLS (China), JSTAR (Japan), NZHWR (New Zealand), and HART (Thailand). CHARLS = China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study; HART = Health, Aging and Retirement in Thailand; HILDA = Health, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia; JSTAR = Japanese Study of Aging and Retirement; NZHWR = New Zealand Health, Work and Retirement; SES = socioeconomic status.

aCategories for HILDA occupation are low, middle, high.