Social Inequality in Indonesia

Social inequality is a phenomenon that occurs in various countries, including Indonesia. Social inequality is also called social inequality because of the imbalance of society so that there is a noticeable difference.

Examples of the phenomenon of social inequality are seen in terms of economics, between rich and poor people, officials and ordinary people. The main factors causing social inequality are lack of employment to poverty.

Social inequality is included in social problems that have an impact on conflict. Not only economically, conflict can be due to legal issues, public services, bureaucracy, education, religion, and ethnicity.

Socioeconomic inequality is an unbalanced state in society. Causes of social inequality due to the economy, lack of employment, poverty, to health.

Causes of Social Inequality

Socio-economic inequality is an imbalance in society. There is a striking difference between the upper class and the lower class. This social inequality results in injustice and position in society. The striking difference is in the financial ability and social status of the people who live in certain neighborhoods.

This form of social inequality makes it difficult for the lower class to get access to development outcomes to education.

There are two internal and external factors that can cause social inequality. Internal factors come from within a person, for example poverty that curbs society. While external factors come from outside a person. For example, the rule of law that restricts people from developing themselves. This creates social inequality and triggers poverty.

Quoting from kemdikbud.go.id, the factors that cause socio-economic inequality are education, demographics, lack of employment, differences in social status, and poverty. Here's the explanation:

Demographics

The first factor of social inequality is related to population problems. There are three demographic factors that affect social inequality based on population size, population composition, and population distribution.

Total population

An example of social inequality occurs in large, densely populated cities. Big cities like Jakarta, for example, have more population than other areas. The reason is that problems in big cities are more complex than in villages.

 Population Composition

The composition of the population is seen from the number of productive (adults) and unproductive (children and elderly) residents in the area.

 Population Distribution

The distribution of the population in Indonesia is not evenly distributed from one area to another. For example, the island of Java has the most dense population compared to other islands.

Education

Education is a factor causing social inequality, because education can increase social status and mobility. The progress of a country is influenced by the quality of its human resources (HR). In Indonesia, educational facilities are not evenly distributed in terms of quality and quality of education.

 Differences in Social Status

Social status can be the cause of social inequality based on power, wealth, age, and personality. Social status occurs because of social stratification, namely the classification of society into classes that can be arranged in stages.

Examples of social status include:

- Employers with workers.

- Political party leaders and members.

- Higher education will affect social status.

- The existence of upper class, middle class, and lower class.

Lack of Jobs

Apart from education, employment also affects the economy and social inequality. The narrowness of employment can increase the number of unemployed in a country. The cause of unemployment is due to the low quality of human resources, the lack of employment opportunities, the labor force is getting higher, they do not dare to create their own jobs.

Health condition

Health facilities affect the social inequalities of each region. For example, the middle and upper class people can enjoy the best health facilities in hospitals. This HR facility can affect human resources in the local area.

Economy

The factor of social inequality is caused by the unequal distribution of resources and production factors. So that the income between regions can be different which causes social inequality.

Examples of economic factors are uneven development between regions, lack of development of natural resources, and production factors. The amount of income per region can affect social inequality.

thejakartapost.com

Poverty

Poverty is a condition of individuals or groups who are unable to meet basic needs, such as education, clothing, shelter, and food. Poverty occurs because of social and economic problems.

The Indonesian nation's most important homework that must be completed at this time is narrowing the gap and reducing inequality among its fellow citizens.

The issue of economic equity must be a priority, not only for the government but also for the private sector. Moreover, at the same time, the state is not only facing various economic problems, but also socio-religious problems such as radicalism and terrorism.

In case

Based on data released by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the Gini ratio in DIY reached 0.440, while the national one was 0.391. The Gini ratio in DIY increased from 0.432 in March 2017 to 0.440 in September 2017.

The DIY local government admits that this gap is high. The gap figures issued by BPS will be used as the basis for creating gap resolution measures. The local government will try to reduce the gap rate but will not set an exact figure for reducing inequality.

"We are targeting at least it can be below the national level. This means that we have an effort," said Yogyakarta Regional Secretary, Gatot Saptadi, at the Yogyakarta Kepatihan Complex, Wednesday (12/3/2017).

Gatot said, the steps taken include creating programs that favor reducing inequality and poverty. Such as the development of drinking water infrastructure, education, health and increasing access.

"I suspect this (gap) exists in urban and rural areas. We focus on related sectors, infrastructure facilities such as hospitals, access to drinking water, health levels, the economy," said Gatot.

The chairman of Commission A DPRD DIY, Eko Suwanto, said the Gini ratio of 0.44, which rose from 0.43 in the first quarter of 2017 in DIY surprised all parties. Moreover, DIY has received additional budget allocations through special funds (Danais) which in the last five years has amounted to Rp. 2.6 trillion.

"Of course this fact is surprising considering that apart from the APBD, there has also been an additional 2.6 trillion in Funds in the last 5 years. There must be better planning so that the regional government's policy programs are better," said Eko Suwanto.

The DIY local government is expected to be able to encourage and carry out program activities that focus on the welfare of the people. Development must be directed at creating jobs and increasing people's income.