Compared to males, women are more likely to be absent in the workforce during their childbearing years, except for pre-birth and early childhood years. This, of course, isn't the result of active discrimination, but due to the fact that women carry children and give birth, and that in itself is a dangerous activity (NBER, 2011).
Moreover, unlike other Indonesian women, Jakartan women seem to be out of the labour market for the rest of their life (Setyonaluri, 2019). The formal sector in Jakarta is fiercely competitive, therefore it is more difficult for women who have been unemployed for years to re-enter the workforce because they have less work experience (Setyonaluri, 2019).
Day 6: A Hopeful Future
Dear diary...
It's finally the weekend---and right now, I'm writing this on top of a hill.
Canti, my daughter, has been talking about camping since forever, so we took our family for a short nature getaway. We had a wonderful day---hiking up trails, discovering hidden streams, and laughing as we helped Rakai set up his first little tent.Â
As I sit here, looking out at the chilly night sky while my children and their dad joke around nearby, I feel a deep sense of gratitude for moments like these, where we can share responsibilities and memories equally. I wish every mom could experience the same kind of support.Â
It also makes me wonder about how much easier life could be for working moms if we had more reliable support systems beyond our families. Access to affordable and quality daycares would give moms peace of mind.
This started off from the lack of childcare services that limited women's participation in the formal workforce. Over the last two decades in Indonesia, female labour force participation has stagnated around 50 percent (Cameron, 2023), closely linked with marriage, childbirth, and raising young children (Cameron, et al. 2019, Schaner dan Das 2016, Setyonaluri 2013, Widarti 1998). Hence, many women face wage gaps in formal sectors or turn to informal work with lower pay for flexibility.Â
Unfortunately, Indonesia's investment in early childhood and child daycare is still low. In 2020, the budget allocation for the education, health and creative economy sectors in Indonesia was only 0.04% of total GDP, far below the OECD recommendation for the government to invest 1% of GDP for the education, health and creative economy sectors (O'Donnell, et al., 2022). This is indicated through Figure 4 below, implies that taking care of children is still the family's matter, not the government's.
Figure 4. Public Expenditure on Children's Education and Pre-Primary Education and Total Public Expenditure on PAUD (% of GDP, 2017 or latest)
