Inequality in Indonesia
As an Indonesian, I'd like to share a little bit story of my fellow Indonesians. Indonesia is a very large country with a huge population (estimated as more than 255 millions in 2015). For the past 15 years, Indonesia has experienced significant economic growth. Unfortunately, the growth has mainly benefited the rich 20% and left behind the remaining 80% (World bank 2015). This condition has created rising divide between the rich and the poor. Please watch a short animated infographic video below.
Dewi and Putri: How Inequality Separates Two Girls from Indonesia
The story of Dewi and Putri above clearly shows us how inequality is happening in Indonesia. As the video shows, inequality causes obvious disparity in the quality of life between the rich (represented by Putri's familiy as the top 10%) and the poor (represented by Dewi's family as the bottom 10%). It is only the rich who are able to get good health service, water service, education, and good job opportunities. This is why the cycle continues with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. Between 2003 and 2010, consumption per person of the richest 10% of Indonesians increased by 6% per year while the poorest 40% consume less than 2% per year. This condition is confirmed by the increase of gini coefficient (measure of inequality) of Indonesia from 30 in 2000 to 41 in 2013 (World Bank 2015). The short video below shows the hopes of the poor of Indonesia and display the contrast of the high rise buildings and slums of Jakarta at a glance.
Indonesia's Rising Divide
The danger of inequality is that it has been passed on from generation to generation. Indonesia's inequality is considered to be fastest increasing among its neighbors. There are at least four main drivers of inequality in Indonesia (World Bank 2015):
- Inequality of opportunity. As the story of Dewi and Putri tells us, the future of poorer children is affected by the condition of their parents. One-third of inequality is caused by factors outside an individual control.
- Inequality in the labor market. As richer children gets better education, they can get better job while the poor children are trapped in low-wage informal sector.
- High wealth concentration.
- Unequal resilience to shocks.
The government has failed to close the social gap in Indonesia
The government has failed to close the social gap in Indonesia. Indonesia desperately needs better leadership in its government, who can improve the poor's living standard, provide better health and education system, as well as provide better jobs.
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