เลี้ยงลูกไว้ใช้งาน
“Raising Children as Investments: The Southeast Asian Meta of ‘เลี้ยงลูกไว้ใช้งาน’”
A satirical exploration into generational debt, unspoken obligations, and why your parents want you to become a doctor, whether you like it or not.
In many Southeast Asian countries—Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia—there exists a cultural phenomenon so pervasive that it shapes family dynamics, career paths, and financial freedom for generations. It’s called “เลี้ยงลูกไว้ใช้งาน”, roughly translating to "raising children for utility."
This isn’t parenting as we know it in the Western ideal of “nurture and release.” No, this is child-rearing as a long-term investment, complete with projected ROI, expected annual dividends (a.k.a monthly remittance), and emotional blackmail as an audit tool.
The Generational Hustle: Kids as Retirement Plans
Many Boomers and older Gen Xers in Southeast Asia grew up in a time when financial literacy was considered optional, and pensions were a myth whispered about in government offices. Instead of relying on savings or state retirement systems (which often turned out to be as stable as a house made of wet durian), they invested in kids.
You were not born because of love.
You were born because your parents needed someone to carry the groceries, get a government job, or pay their car loan when they’re 65.
And the moment you start earning an income?
“เราตั้งใจเลี้ยงเธอมาอย่างดี”
(“We raised you well, you owe us.”)
It’s not so much love as it is an invoice.
The Career Projection Fantasy: Unfinished Dreams, Now Available in Child Edition
Ever wonder why Asians are stereotypically funneled into medicine, engineering, or law? Because chances are, someone’s mother or father wanted to be those things but got derailed by the inconvenient reality of poverty, poor education, or teenage marriage.
So who better to live out those dreams than...
YOU, the unsuspecting fetus turned career mule.
“I wanted to be a doctor, but grandpa made me quit school at 14. That’s why you're going to be a neurosurgeon. Even if you faint at the sight of blood.”
In this worldview, your body is theirs. Your dreams are optional. Your income is communal property. Welcome to Southeast Asian parenting: where consent is implied and obligations are inherited.
Financial Literacy? That’s For Millennials
Let’s talk about the financial illiteracy epidemic among prior generations. Many relied on job security, government employment, and vague concepts of “ลูกมันจะเลี้ยง” ("The child will take care of me").
Few planned for retirement. Fewer still invested.
Most treated their paycheck like a now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t magic show.
Meanwhile, Zoomers are navigating:
- Inflation that outpaces wages
- Skyrocketing property prices (thanks, speculative boomers!)
- A job market saturated with underpaying gigs and “experience required” scams
- And parents still asking for 5,000 baht a month to pay off the temple donation
And don’t even start about social security systems. They're built like Ponzi schemes, where the current workforce (aka you) pays for retirees, hoping one day, someone will do the same for them. Spoiler: they won't.
The Result: Guilt, Burnout, and Resentment in HD
A young Southeast Asian adult today is more likely to:
- Burn out by age 30
- Have no personal savings due to monthly family contributions
- Be blamed for “not being grateful enough”
- Be called selfish for wanting boundaries
All while being told that “we had it harder back then” by the same people who bought land at 10,000 baht per rai and now sell it to foreigners for millions.
Conclusion: You Are Not a Retirement Plan
Let’s be clear. Taking care of parents isn't bad. It's human, it’s cultural, it’s love.
But weaponizing that love into life-long debt? That’s emotional capitalism, and nobody signed up for that.
Children are not insurance policies.
They’re not walking ATMs.
They’re not proxies for your unfulfilled goals.
And if Southeast Asia wants to move forward, it needs to start raising children for autonomy, not ROI.
Because right now, it’s not just “เลี้ยงลูกไว้ใช้งาน”...
It’s “เลี้ยงลูกไว้หาความฝันแทนกู และเลี้ยงพ่อแม่ทั้งชีวิต.”
That’s not a family.
That’s a generational pyramid scheme.
Welcome to Southeast Asia: where the only inheritance you’re guaranteed…
is expectation.
