“Documenting 75 years of resilience” is a series of special reports by The Jakarta Post to celebrate Indonesia’s Independence Day, August 17, 1945.

Indonesia has come a long way in regard to women’s economic participation, from the days when women were not allowed to occupy a space in the public sphere to now. However, the country still has a long way to go. 

While women make up almost half of the Indonesian population, their participation rate in the economy is far below that of men.

The female labor force participation (FLFP) rate in the country for those aged 15 and above grew from 44.48 percent in 1990 to 53.08 percent in 2019, according to data from the International Labour Organization (ILO). The FLFP rate is still 29.35 percentage points below that of their male counterparts, which stood at 82.43 percent in 2019. 

Closing that gap will substantially boost the country’s economy. According to the 2017 ILO’s “World Employment Social Outlook” report, narrowing the gap in participation rate by 25 percent by 2025 could add Rp 2.9 quadrillion (US$194.56 billion) to the Indonesian economy. 

However, the challenges to attaining higher female participation in the economy have remained.

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