Employment Opportunities for the Urban Poor

The Covid-19 pandemic, which has severely disrupted the country’s economy, has not only contributed to an increase in the number of poor people in cities but also its proportion in the national poverty rate.

Kompas/Totok Wijayanto

People carrying out their activities in front of a semi-permanent makeshift house in the densely-populated area of Muara Angke, Penjaringan, North Jakarta, Monday (17/7/2017). From the poverty data released by the Central Statistics Agency, in the September 2016-March 2017 period, the number of poor people in the cities has increased by 188,190 people from the 10.49 million people in September 2016 to 10.67 million people in March 2017.

Poverty remains a problem in big cities like Jakarta. Addressing the main causes of poverty by providing employment opportunities and access to business capital is considered to be the key in alleviating the urban poverty.The government’s efforts in handling the urban poor has not been optimal as shown in the result of a survey conducted by Kompas on June 15-17. As many as 69 percent of respondents being surveyed said that the government’s efforts in overcoming poverty in urban areas were not yet optimal.

Based on data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS), in September 2020 the number of the urban poor in Indonesia reached 12.04 million people. This number was higher than 11.16 million people in March 2020 and 9.86 million people in September 2019.