Helped by a divorce rate that has risen to 100,000 cases per year, the number of single parents in Thailand has reached 2.5 million, and most are young people raising one or two children, a Mahidol University (MU) academic has revealed.

Urging the government to launch measures to help these single parents, Saireudee Worakitphokhathorn, chief of the MU National Institute for Child and Family Development (NICFD), says that 80 per cent are not confident they can support their children without assistance from the government.

Thailand has 11.4 million dependants aged 11 to 22 living in some 2.5 million single-parent families, says Saireudee, citing a January study on family life. The survey of 1,000 single parents revealed divorce as the No 1 cause of their status, followed by the spouse's death.

One third of these single parents say they are stressed because lack of family stability means they can't raise their kids to be happy. The main problem is financial, with single parents working longer hours, thus having less time to take care of the kids, she said.

We need help!

As more than 80 per cent do not get any welfare, Saireudee is urging the authorities to increase their family income by Bt3,250 per month, provide financial support to their small businesses, offer them bachelor degree education for free and lower their income tax to 2 per cent.

She would also like to see an institute for single-parent family development established.

Wanchai Boonpracha, manager of the Thai Health Promotion Foundation's Family Network, says that statistics for 2007 show there were 300,000 weddings, but also that 100,000 couples filed for divorce. He said that a weakened family institution was linked to a rise in juvenile delinquency, so it was urgent that the government pay serious attention to this issue.