Reviewing the Vulnerability of Indonesian Women Workforce during the Pandemic
- Izzan Fathurrahman
- Jun 20, 2020
- 4 min read
Kathleen Gerson, a professor of Sociology at New York University stated that a crisis like this exposes the fault lines in society that were not given enough attention. While Kathleen referred to the context of the US, this situation is also similar to Indonesia.
In these past two months, Indonesian citizen have been awfully being demonstrated to the fragility of their society and the government system in general. In the policy decision-making process, people have seen the unclear strategy of the government in handling the pandemic. Questionably skipping the measurable mitigation process, the government currently aims for the new normal.
While political and social aspects have less interest for the government, the economy as the championing sector of President Joko Widodo administration has become the main reason of the government to rush from a measurable mitigation plan to a new normal policy.
However, this pandemic also reveals the vulnerability of women within this economic sector. The latest research has forecasted that there will be an increase of the poverty rate to up to 12.4 percent at its worst , dragging around 8.5 million people to fall into the poverty. While the country economy is badly hit and there is a high possibility of the rise of the poverty rate, the women will suffer more during this pandemic.
Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (KADIN) has released a statement that among different economic sectors in the country that got affected by this pandemic, the hardest hit is the tourism sector and its associations, including hotels, restaurants, transportation as well as small-medium enterprises (SMEs). The country’s notable economist, Faisal Basri, argued that the agricultural sector with crops sub-sector experiences the second most severe growth decrease after the aviation industry and followed by the manufacturing industry.
Looking at hardest hit in the economic sector, the tourism, agriculture and manufacture, those three sectors absorb the majority of women workforce. The 2019 national labor survey (Sakernas) reveals that from around 48.7 million Indonesian women workforce, 12 million works in the agricultural, forestry and fishing sector, 8 million works in the manufacturing sector and 4 million is in the accommodation and food service activities. Not to mention 11 million women workforces in the wholesale and retail trade that is highly associated with SMEs. In 2018, 64.5 percent of 37 million of Indonesian SMEs is made up by women.
The sexual division of labor normally places women in the service sector and low paid job. Women are not seen as the main breadwinner and merely work to support additional income for the family. The Sakernas data shows that women average income is still lower than men and women are three times most likely to work as an unpaid or contributing family worker compared to men, contributing to the women’s second main occupation after as an employee.
The data also reveals that women are more likely to work as a part-time worker compared to men. The high percentage of women in contributing to the Indonesian SMEs is in line with the own account worker as the women’s third-largest main occupation after as an unpaid or contributing family worker.
Reflecting on the latest women employment data and the current hardship of economic sector, it clearly positions women as the most vulnerable subject during this pandemic. This is exacerbated by the fact that divorced women are most likely to forcefully enter the job market and facing the double hardship.
In general, this is an unsatisfied situation for Indonesia’s low women employment rate in comparison with its neighboring countries. Data from the World Bank demonstrates that Indonesia’s women employment rate is only 50.7 percent, far away behind its economic competitors, such as Vietnam with 73.2 percent and Thailand with 60.3 percent. Cambodia as the country with the second-lowest GDP even has a higher rate of 81.2 percent.
The pandemic does not only reveal the fault lines within a country but on the brighter side, encourages a more contextual policy in addressing the lines. Hawaii draws and example of how a feminist economic recovery plan is specifically targeted to women and other marginalized groups. Looking at this situation, the ‘new normal’ campaign upheld by the Indonesian government should include new affirmative policy that addresses the women vulnerability issue while on the other hand increase their employment rate.
Whilst the country’s gigantic omnibus law on job creation has not been issued yet and there is a room for improvement based on the current situation, it should be a good start for accommodating this issue in the economic sector. The other affirmative policies, such as the issue of sexual protection bill should be also pushed forward to unlock the women's capability in the broader context.
The pandemic does not only reveal the fault lines in society but also in the policymakers. Indonesian citizen has been awfully entertained by their government’s poor coordination, questionable mitigating steps and atrocious political communication. Would their government make the same mistake in the next policies? The call is on them.
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