Middle Class Under Pressure

[centurion]

The official Statistics of the Indonesian Government (BPS) defines Middle Class (e.g Middle income spender) as people who spend Rp 2.04m+ (e.g USD125).
So how do you define people, diaspora living in Indonesia who spend USD1,000,000 to purchase property in Indonesia as discussed in this thread?

Global Citizenship Indonesia

https://www.cna.id/indonesia/indonesia-luncurkan-global-citizenship-indonesia-ala-india-untuk-permudah-diaspora-41121 Another day…another new name for the same thing? Any thoughts? What is the difference between this is and KITAP unlimited? What about diaspora Golden visa?

www.expatindo.org

My security guy in my building became middle class long time ago.

 

[pantaiema]

My security guy in my building became middle class long time ago.

Well, they might be earning more than Rp2.04m, but you can never really know how much they actually spend. If their spending is only Rp2.03m million, then technically they wouldn’t fall into the middle-income category

Income data is relatively easy to gather and verify, but individual spending data in a country with vast population is a whole different story. Say they buy instant noodle in 'warung', buy groceries in 'pasar'. How could you track it accurately ?? I believe even major institutions like the IMF, World Bank, or OECD struggle to verify it because they don’t have enough people on the ground to collect it directly. So they mostly depend on the statistics provided by BPS.

That’s why, in Indonesia BPS statistics are so dominant there’s really nothing else that can compete with them.

 

[pantaiema]

The government officially reported Indonesia's Poverty and Unemployment Rates HAVE DECLINED.
https://www.cnnindonesia.com/ekonom...a-kemiskinan-dan-pengangguran-indonesia-turun.
https://www.tempo.co/ekonomi/prabowo-klaim-angka-pengangguran-menurun-apa-kata-pengamat--2052048
About unemployment rate, Just look the the reality on the ground in the previous post especially post #45, #46. Also it is reported in the news almost on daily bases about mass redundancy and how difficult for people to get job nowadays.
About poverty figure, well if you want to make the statistics look good just provide your own new definitions of Poverty. In Indonesia, people in poverty is now defined ass those earn Rp20k a day (So Rp600k pm) according to BPS (central bureau of statistics). However, when presenting the minimum wage to appear favourable in terms of labour protection before the international community, they cite a completely different figure of IDR 5,396,761.00 per month (in Jakarta). Keep in mind minimum wage is legally binding and how many people get paid less than that ?. .Certainly, there is a distinction between the minimum wage and the poverty line, but with such a big difference, anyone with common sense can easily see that the figure is deliberately being manipulated to look good.

Garis kemiskinan versi Bank Dunia dan pemerintah Indonesia, mana yang lebih realistis? - BBC News Indonesia

Mulai Juni 2025, perubahan perhitungan kemiskinan Bank Dunia diprediksi meningkatkan angka kemiskinan Indonesia menjadi 194,6 juta jiwa, jauh di atas 24,06 juta merujuk data September 2024. Standar baru ini mengungkap "wajah kemiskinan" Indonesia yang lebih luas, mengklasifikasikan jutaan orang...

www.bbc.com

Taking His Child to a Job Fair, a Father in East Jakarta Highlights the Difficulty Young People Face in Finding Work.

This is a recent reality on the ground and it is very alarming as the national statistics are kept being manipulated by the political sycophants. There have been evidence in the past that the local authority are organising the job fair just want to look good, inviting the companies, the employers to participate even they have not got real vacancies.
This is just a few examples
https://www.kompas.com/tren/read/20...si-yang-ricuh--tak-dapat-kerja-malah?page=all Job Seekers' Stories at the Chaotic Bekasi Job Fair: Unemployed, not getting the job, instead, Traumatised

https://www.cnbcindonesia.com/resea...-jadi-ajang-formalitas-bukan-mencari-karyawan Sad! Job Fairs Are Just a Formality, Not a Place to Find Employees

Keep in mind even the international organisation such as the World Bank, IMF, OECD, use some of the national statistics for their publications as they have not got enough people on the ground, resources to collect, or full verification of all of data they need from people.

I would not place the blame on the current Indonesian president, as he merely receives reports from political sycophants the head of BPS (National Bureau of Statistics), ministers, who keep manipulating the figures to please him. The people working on the BPS might be under pressure to put the figure they are asked to do.

 

[centurion]

Taking His Child to a Job Fair, a Father in East Jakarta Highlights the Difficulty Young People Face in Finding Work.

This is a recent reality on the ground and it is very alarming as the national statistics are kept being manipulated by the political sycophants. There have been evidence in the past that the local authority are organising the job fair just want to look good, inviting the companies, the employers to participate even they have not got real vacancies.
This is just a few examples
https://www.kompas.com/tren/read/20...si-yang-ricuh--tak-dapat-kerja-malah?page=all Job Seekers' Stories at the Chaotic Bekasi Job Fair: Unemployed, not getting the job, instead, Traumatised

https://www.cnbcindonesia.com/resea...-jadi-ajang-formalitas-bukan-mencari-karyawan Sad! Job Fairs Are Just a Formality, Not a Place to Find Employees

Keep in mind even the international organisation such as the World Bank, IMF, OECD, use some of the national statistics for their publications as they have not got enough people on the ground, resources to collect, or full verification of all of data they need from people.

I would not place the blame on the current Indonesian president, as he merely receives reports from political sycophants the head of BPS (National Bureau of Statistics), ministers, who keep manipulating the figures to please him. The people working on the BPS might be under pressure to put the figure they are asked to do.

Minimum salary called UMR is not legally binding for micro and small businesses (94% of all employees work in micro/small businesses)

The government is probably successfully lowering the extreme poverty numbers by subsidies, but the middle class is shrinking significantly. The effect is called hourglass economy, and will have a devastating effects.

 

[pantaiema]

Recent News:
Indonesia’s graduate unemployment has now exceeded one million. Keep in mind that these are not people without qualifications. They are university graduates, ranging from bachelor’s degrees to master’s and even doctoral degrees, who are currently unemployed. This represents approximately 14.31% of Indonesia’s total unemployed people (based on BPS statistics).

Just a few months ago, the Indonesian Central Statistics Agency (BPS) was reporting that unemployment was declining, poverty was falling, and inflation was easing. However, unless they are political sycophants or members of the current cabinet, many experts and academics have questioned the credibility of these figures. Some have even raised concerns with the United Nations, alleging that Indonesia’s official statistics are being deliberately manipulated.

In my opinion, one of the major problems is that the President may be relying too heavily on reports prepared by his staffs, reports that may tell him what they think he wants to hear rather than what is actually happening on the ground. The president is too busy for International travelling. His current minister cabinet is 100+ minister, it is the largest in Indonesian history. They even have minister of human right. What they are actually doing while common people losing their jobs, relatively large number of people in poverty ?? In Indonesia those who are entitled to receive social benefit from the government (e.g considered in poverty. 'rakyat miskin') are those who earn an income of Rp20k a day (or Rp600k pm).. Those who are spending where spending IDR2.03m is already considered middle class. In the meanwhile when they report the minimum wage to ILO, UN they are using a different measure/metrics.

In Indonesia, misrepresenting or manipulating national statistics appears to carry very few consequences. Those responsible rarely face serious disciplinary action, such as dismissal. In some cases, they may even be rewarded with promotions.