Under a sagging wooden shelter in Bengkulu city, Bengkulu, junior high school student Robi Anto lifts a tray containing dozens of shrimp that he and his father caught the day before.

Although the part-time prawn fisherman admitted that he was not at the top of his class, he said he was determined to try his best to enroll in a university to realize his lifelong dream of becoming an entrepreneur.

“I don’t want my future children to be like me, struggling to even eat three times a day,” said Robi, a recipient of the government's school subsidy program, Indonesia Smart Card (KIP), whose favorite school subject is science. He lives in the province with the second-highest rate of urban poverty in Indonesia.

In East Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), junior high school student Vergilius Delfiano Jun has set his heart on becoming a teacher despite having limited access to good quality education.

“Even though I’m studying at a rickety school that looks as if it’s about to collapse, I will remain motivated to pursue my future ambitions,” said Vergilius, who is the child of a local farmer in the third-poorest province in Indonesia after Papua and West Papua.

Robi and Vergilius are two of many children in poverty who dream big, but a new study shows that children who have lived through poverty in Indonesia will most likely be paid less than their more privileged counterparts when they grow up.

A study called “The Effect of Growing up Poor on Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from Indonesia” suggests that a child who lives in poverty between the ages of 8 and 17 will, on average, earn 87 percent less than a child who grows up in a family above the poverty line.

The study was published by the Asian Development Bank Institute and conducted by SMERU Research Institute researchers.

Such effects, the report notes, mirror the experience of a person who has a severe physical limitation in adulthood.

“There are many reasons that could influence [labor outcome]," SMERU senior researcher Daniel Suryadarma said on Monday, citing genetics, nutrition intake, education quality and economic opportunities.

"So someone who is very smart, has high potential, but because they were born in a village without infrastructure, they will most likely have a low education quality, poor health and job [opportunities limited to those] in the village.”

Such disadvantages could have affected as many as 25 million Indonesians who are classified as poor, living on less than Rp 425,250 (US$30.29) per person per month, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data in March.

About 13.3 percent of Indonesia’s children lived under the poverty line in 2016, a National Social and Economic Survey (Susenas) showed, meaning millions of the children surveyed two years ago may have their earnings dampened in the future.

“There is no silver bullet to handle this problem,” Daniel continued.

The government plans to beef up social assistance funds to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty, said Social Affairs Ministry Social Security and Protection Director General Harry Hikmat.

The Family Hope Program (PKH) helps the poor through conditional cash transfers that start from Rp 1.89 million and go up to Rp 2 million if family members are seniors, disabled or Papua residents.

“We expect PKH to be the epicenter to lift people from poverty,” Harry said.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo also dreams big. In his inaugural speech for his second five-year term as President on Oct. 20, he said he wanted the poverty rate to be near zero by 2045, from 9.41 percent at present.

"Indonesia will become an advanced country with an annual income of Rp 320 million per capita or a monthly income of Rp 27 million per capita," he said.

Jokowi has mandated that the PKH increase the number of households receiving help from 10 million to 15 million.

The Social Affairs Ministry will prioritize PKH recipients in the distribution of preemployment cards. These cards allow job seekers to get free training to narrow the country’s skills gap.

Last September, the ministry launched the new e-PKH application for recipients to handle the program’s future expansions and integrate regional administrations’ information systems.

Still, a separate SMERU study shows that the current PKH, while effective in addressing poverty, has had little effect on the income gap. Analysis of pro-poor scholarships from Indonesia Smart Program (PIP) also showed similar results despite potential long-term benefits, SMERU researcher Ridho Al Izzati said.

“This is because the value of such grants is not big enough to change income distribution,” Ridho said.

The study recommended the government identify individuals with entrepreneurial potential through PKH. Authorities would then be able to guide and fund them while overseeing their business development over time. 

The research institute also urged the government to improve access to formal employment by integrating preemployment cards with the PKH initiative.

As the government searches for ways to lift people from poverty, Pitri Iskandar, a junior high school student in Bengkulu, struggles to make it to university. But that does not stop Pitri from aspiring to become a teacher.

“Women who work can help contribute to household finances,” said Pitri, the third out of five children in her family.

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