Beware the Economic Impact on Gen X, Millennials

It will be more difficult for Indonesia to benefit fully from its demographic bonus. Taking advantage of the demographic bonus is not something automatic, but requires hard work to benefit from it.

KOMPAS/BAHANA PATRIA GUPTA

Airline crew, generally millennials, after taking care of a Health Clearance letter at the Covid-19 Command Post at Terminal 1 Juanda Airport, Sidoarjo, East Java, Friday (8/5/2020). In 2020-2024, Indonesia is entering the peak of the demographic bonus, with the largest population of productive age (15-64 years).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Members of Generation X (40-55 years) and millennials (24-39) comprise 68 percent of the economically productive population. This population segment should be productive, but many people in this demographic have instead lost their jobs as an impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, with some even becoming unemployed.

Ateng Hartono, the social statistics deputy at Statistics Indonesia (BPS), said in Jakarta on Thursday (16/12) that unemployment among millennials and Gen Xers showed an upward trend during the pandemic. Speaking at the "Indonesian Demographic Outlook 2022" webinar, he said that open unemployment among millennials had been 4.74 percent and 2.01 percent among Gen Xers in February 2020, the month before the country’s first Covid-19 cases were announced.