BPS Logs Surge in Extreme Poverty Rates in 6 Provinces
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28 August 2024 19:57 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Statistics Indonesia (BPS) Acting Head Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti announced that extreme poverty rates have decreased in most provinces, but six provinces experienced an increase in poverty in 2024 compared to the previous year.
“The most significant increase in extreme poverty occurred in West Sulawesi,” Amalia said during a meeting with Commission XI of the House of Representatives (DPR) on Wednesday, August 28.
The BPS records indicate that extreme poverty in West Sulawesi increased by 0.71 percent. Additionally, North Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, Bali, the Bangka Belitung Islands, and West Sumatra also experienced increases in extreme poverty rates.
Based on BPS's analysis of extreme poverty data in 38 provinces and 514 regencies/cities, Bengkulu recorded the largest decrease in extreme poverty. In total, six provinces in Papua had the lowest overall extreme poverty rates in Indonesia.
Amalia highlighted that the quality of human resources within extremely poor households remains a significant challenge. “A majority of household heads in extreme poverty have only completed elementary school education, accounting for 41.82 percent,” she said.
Improving human capital is essential to breaking the cycle of poverty. Households in this category typically consist of 4 to 5 members.
The average age of household heads in extreme poverty is 53 years, and the majority are employed in the agricultural sector. 26.5 percent work as laborers, while 13 percent are involved in the mining and processing industry. “A significant portion also engage in informal work, and 9.3 percent lack access to a toilet,” Amalia added.
For extremely poor households with a single household head, the majority are elderly individuals aged 71 years or older. Almost all of these single heads are women and are not employed. Amalia emphasized the importance of tailoring government policies to address the specific characteristics of this population.
The government has set a target of reducing extreme poverty to 0 percent by 2024. However, the latest data shows that the current extreme poverty rate in Indonesia is 0.83 percent.
ILONA ESTHERINA
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