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C
onfronting
F
amily
P
overty
living in the bottom 30 per cent of households in Indonesia.
Based on analysis by SMERU and the United Nations Children’s
Fund (UNICEF) in 2013, children’s poverty rate in Indonesia
is higher than that of the overall population. The gap is even
wider when children’s poverty rate in rural areas is compared
with that in urban areas.
Traditionally, it is not common to count child poverty, based
on the assumption that children do not have any income.
However, work around poverty analysis has acknowledged
that children are not immune to poverty. Living in poverty
or coming from a poor family puts children at greater risk. It
impedes families’ and children’s ability to meet basic necessities
of food, nutrition and shelter, and it hinders them from access-
ing basic health, education and social services. Children affected
by poverty also tend to live in overcrowded arrangements. The
2012 Indonesia Socioeconomic Survey shows that stunting,
wasting and underweight cases are predominantly experienced
by children from households in the lowest quintile. Birth certifi-
cate ownership is lowest among children in the poorest families
and the likelihood of children working is higher in poor house-
holds. Without a birth certificate, it is reportedly more difficult
for children to access schools in some areas, as well as making it
more likely that children will be married. Early marriage is also
more prevalent in the lowest quintile, consequently generating
poor child-headed households.
In addition to poverty, children experience other forms
of vulnerability. Publications produced in and/or about
Indonesia tell us that poverty also increases the risk of chil-
dren experiencing abuse, violence and exploitation. Problems
such as these are not straightforward because, although intui-
tively recognizable, statistically identifying such a situation is
much more complex and relevant big data is therefore scarce.
At the same time, the aforementioned situation of lack of
access to protection, basic needs and services might deter
children’s ability to reach their optimum development and,
in the end, to escape poverty in the future as adults.
Is Indonesia taking actions to address the problem? Yes. It is
important to highlight that the Government has been successful
in tackling poverty. This has resulted in the decline of the overall
poverty trend, but the reduction continues to slow down. As
pointed out in the SMERU report, the reduction of child poverty
also declined by 1.06 percentage points between 2009 and 2012.
A paper produced by the Center on Child Protection (Pusat
Kajian Perlindungan Anak or PUSKAPA) and Save the Children
in 2012 states that the same trend is also happening in health
indicators, where the reduction of the infant and under-five
mortality rate has been declining since 1997. Indonesia is also
facing widening inequality (an increasing Gini ratio), disparity
between provinces and areas, and a growing number of people
living slightly above the poverty line. The overall situation is
that Indonesia is facing what are called the three dimensions of
poverty: a large number of poor people as well as those who
are vulnerable of becoming poor, including children; regional
disparities; and non-monetary vulnerability that is often influ-
enced by the weaker capabilities of poor families.
For over a decade, Indonesia has initiated different social
assistance programmes and approaches to alleviate poverty
for different categories of target groups. These programmes
target families and individuals, and some have specific child
well-being eligibility and conditionality.
Considering the large number of people living in poverty in
Indonesia, even when all of those programmes are combined,
there is still a huge gap in terms of the number of people being
reached. The total spending for social assistance in 2011 was
approximately US$2.75 billion, and more as well as better-
targeted investment is still needed. In addition, being initiated
by different sectors has caused fragmentation and poor coor-
dination in the implementation.
Existing social assistance programmes in Indonesia
Source: Indonesia’s Ministry of National Development Planning, 2012
Programme
Target group
Benefit
Unconditional Cash Transfers (BLT)
Poor and near poor households
IDR100,000/month
Rice for the Poor (RASKIN)
Poor and near poor households
15 kg rice/month (approx IDR1.1 million per year)
Health Assistance (JAMKESMAS)
Poor and near poor households
Unlimited subject to conditions
Scholarships for the Poor (BSM)
Students living in poverty
IDR360,000-1.2 million (based on level of school)
Conditional Cash Transfer (PKH)
Very poor households
IDR1.3 million per year
Social Assistance for Vulnerable Children
(PKSA)
Neglected under-fives, neglected children,
street children, children in contact with
the law, children with disability, children
in need of special protection
IDR1.3-1.5 million per year
Social Assistance for People with Disabilities
(JSPACA)
Severely disabled adults
IDR3.6 million per year
Social Assistance for Vulnerable Elderly (JSLU)
Vulnerable elderly
IDR3.6 million per year