The Weaving Family: A Decade of Shift in ASEAN Families
Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living ASEAN (HILL ASEAN) held ASEAN SEI KATSU-SHA FORUM 2024 in Jakarta, Indonesia, announcing findings from surveys and research into the attitudes and behaviour of ASEAN sei-katsu-sha—Hakuhodo’s term for the holistic person—under the theme of “The ASEAN Family.”
In its inaugural year, we also conducted research under the same theme of ASEAN families, presenting our finding that the ASEAN family was enjoying real-time communication by constantly going online, facilitated by the advancement of technology and the rapid expansion of SNS.
Ten years on, we again performed quantitative and home visit surveys in six ASEAN countries (Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore) to see how the ASEAN family has changed over the years. Our findings show the realities of the ASEAN family building its own value on the “family first” principle, striking a balance between “emerging values” (newly adopted values in contact with global information and values) and “traditional values” (intrinsic ASEAN values being enhanced or recovered by people revisiting their roots).
This year’s research helped discover the new, resilient values and lifestyles of the ASEAN family, weaving different values on the basis of their long-held “family first” principle. The set of values woven into a unique pattern by each family depending on their priorities, also serves to consolidate and protect family members amid the volatile ASEAN society.
Survey Highlights:
- ASEAN and the “family first” principle: Asked about how the importance of family will change in their country, the share of ASEAN sei-katsu-sha who anticipate an “increase in importance” exceeds that of their Japanese counterparts by almost 30 points.
- “Emerging values” in the ASEAN family (newly adopted values in contact with global information and values) Improved career consciousness:Asked about their image of “ideal men/women,” the shares of both male and female sei-katsu-sha in ASEAN who cited “a man/woman oriented to be successful in his/her career” rose over 10 points vs. 10-years-ago.
- Family size tending from expansion to contraction: More than 60% of ASEAN sei-katsu-sha predict that there will be fewer children and fewer family members living in one household going forward.
- Respect for personal liberty: ASEAN sei-katsu-sha who want more time to spend alone and those who want more freedom have increased substantially over the 10 years.
- Power balance in family: In ASEAN countries, husband tends to have more authority than in Japan. People are maintaining order and the relationship of mutual aid by articulating hierarchy among family members.
- “Family first” as basis for social trust: In ASEAN, almost 70% of the respondents believe that people who have a good relationship with their family are more likely to be a "good person." Since having a good family serves as evidence of a good person or social trust, people tend to act with the intention to make their family better, or look better.
- Image of the ASEAN family: The development and dissemination of technology provides ASEAN sei-katsu-sha with opportunities to make contact with the cultures and values of various countries, effectively enabling them to pick “emerging values” to be embraced and “traditional values” to be cherished.
