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Jakarta poverty rate drops to third-lowest level since ‘reformasi’
The poverty rate -- the ratio between the number of poor people and the total population -- in Jakarta was recorded at 3.42 percent in September last year, the third lowest since widespread reforms were introduced in 1998.
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A slum in Kampung Teluk Gong in Penjaringan district, North Jakarta, on Nov. 21, 2019. The dwelling belongs to a scavenger-cum-wholesaler of plastic cups. (JP/Dzulfiqar Fathur Rahman)
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akarta's poverty rate -- the ratio between the number of poor people and the total population -- was recorded at 3.42 percent in September last year, the third lowest since widespread reforms were introduced in 1998. The lowest rate of 3.14 percent was recorded in 2001, while the second of 3.18 percent was recorded in 2004, according to a data released on Jan. 15 by Statistics Indonesia’s (BPS) Jakarta office.
BPS Jakarta head Buyung Airlangga said poverty in the city was complex because the breadwinner in a poor family had to provide for nearly six family members. A 2018 Susenas survey by Statistics Indonesia found that a poor family consisted of at least five members and its affluent counterpart consisted of at least three members.
"Therefore, the fact that the Jakarta administration managed to lower the poverty rate was worth noting given the complexity of the problem," Buyung told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. "It is not only about the decline in itself."
The Jakarta administration under Governor Anies Baswedan is seeking to reduce the poverty rate by 1 percentage point to 2.7 percent in 2020 from 3.7 percent in 2017, according to the 2017 to 2022 medium-term regional development plan. This means the administration needs to lower the rate by 0.2 percentage points on average per year.
According to the BPS Jakarta data, the number of poor people, those with monthly spending below Rp 663,355 (US$48.26) per person, declined by 0.27 percent to 362,300 people in September last year from 372,260 in the same period in 2018.
In 2018, the number of North Jakarta's poor was recorded at 95,860 people, the highest in the city, followed by East Jakarta with 91,380. Central Jakarta, on the other hand, recorded the fewest number of poor people at 33,190.
