Poverty and Inequality Analysis
In early 1998 the government of Indonesia established several social safety net programmes to help the poor and the newly poor cope with the impact of the impending economic crisis, covering food security, employment creation, education, health, and community empowerment.
Household consumption expenditure data is crucial for calculating important welfare measures such as poverty headcount rate. However, collecting such data is difficult and cumbersome.
Welcome to the first edition of SMERU's regular monthly newsletter. Why a newsletter? Because we believe that having information spread and discussed as widely as possible is a central part of creating the social conditions for addressing the social crisis.
As the economic crisis continues, the capacity of many Indonesians to provide for the basic necessities of life - food, clothing, and shelter - has been thrown even further into doubt.
All indications are that the economic crisis in Indonesia, especially in the formal sector, will not be over in the near future. After a contraction in the economy of approximately 14% in 1998, predictions are that the Indonesian economy would either experience no growth or would continue to decline in 1999, at a rate of up to 3%.
