Your Parents Are Not Who You Think They Are

The typical picture of an ageing Indonesian? Inactive. No spending power. Just sitting at home, watching TV. Waiting.

This picture is wrong.

I have been studying this segment for several years. Two studies — a larger one in 2023 (200 seniors aged 55–75) and a more recent one in 2026 (44 seniors aged 60+ and 45 adult children) — point in the same direction. The senior market in urban Indonesia is more active, more motivated, and more misunderstood than most people assume.

What children see

When I asked adult children how their parents spend most of their time at home, 67% said: watching TV or consuming media. One in ten described their parent as visibly bored or inactive.

This drives a particular set of worries. Nearly 9 in 10 adult children worry about their parent’s physical decline. About 6 in 10 worry about a lack of meaningful activity. More than half worry about social isolation.

These concerns are real. But the picture they are based on is incomplete.

What seniors actually report

When I asked the seniors themselves how they spend their time, the answer was different.

Three in four said they regularly do religious or spiritual activities. More than half said they spend meaningful time with family. Nearly half said they do regular physical exercise. Only 1 in 4 mentioned TV.

This is not a passive life. It is a fairly structured one — built around faith, family, and movement.

But there is something underneath the surface worth noting. In the 2023 study, when I asked seniors about their deepest fear, the top concern was not loneliness or boredom. It was becoming a burden to their family. In a country with limited public support for seniors, the family is the only safety net. So staying healthy and active is not just about enjoying life. It is about preserving independence — and protecting the people they love from having to carry them.

That gives a different shape to the “quite good, but I could be doing more” feeling that 55% of seniors in the 2026 study reported. It is not just gentle restlessness. There is a quiet urgency underneath it.

The wants mismatch

Here is where the gap between families and seniors becomes clearest.

I asked adult children what activities they most wanted for their parents. Physical fitness was number one — 87% chose it. Social clubs came second, at 67%.

Then I asked the seniors themselves. The top answer in the 2026 study was travel and culinary outings — chosen by 55%. Spiritual and mindfulness activities came second. Light exercise came much further down.

The 2023 study corroborates this. When asked what they would most like to do if money and health were no issue, seniors’ top desire was going on a pilgrimage (55%), followed by travel (30%). Not structured exercise. Not group socialising.

Children are worried about their parent’s body and social life. Seniors are looking for experiences that feel meaningful — spiritual depth, shared journeys, the kind of travel that connects you to something larger than yourself.

Neither is wrong. But they are clearly not solving for the same thing.

What this means

Indonesia will have 42 million people aged 60 and above by 2030. More than half will live in urban areas. This is a large, growing, and purchasing-capable segment — and it is still largely misread.

For families, the implication is simple: ask before you assume.

For entrepreneurs and businesses, the implication is strategic. This segment is not waiting to be activated. Many seniors are already living structured, purposeful lives. What they are looking for is not more activity for its own sake. They want experiences that feel worth choosing — and that help them stay independent on their own terms.

That is a very different brief. And it is one that still has very few answers in the Indonesian market.

This post draws on two studies by RB Consulting. The first was conducted in 2023 among 200 Indonesians aged 55–75 from middle-to-upper-class urban households in Jabotabek. The second was a smaller exploratory study in 2026 covering 45 adult children (aged 25–50) and 44 seniors (aged 60+) in urban Indonesia. The 2026 sample is small; findings are directional rather than statistically representative.