‘We lost everything’: the Indonesians falling out of the middle class
Nearly 10 million people have slipped out of Indonesia’s middle class since 2019, according to government statistics. Spending about one-quarter of their takings each month, the couple belonged to the upper reaches of Indonesia’s middle class, officially defined as those with monthly outgoings of between two million rupiahs and 9.9 million rupiahs. “Major trading partners like the US, China, and Japan are experiencing contractions, as indicated by the Purchasing Managers’ Index, leading to reduced international demand for Indonesian commodities,” Yazid said. “This adds further strain on the middle class.” Adinova Fauri, an economic researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said Indonesia’s strained middle class “reflects deeper structural issues, particularly the impact of deindustrialisation in Indonesia.” “Manufacturing, which used to absorb a large share of the labour force, is no longer able to do so. Our business just died completely.” Nasution’s husband took up the first job he could find, a role harvesting the fruit of oil palms for about 2.8 million rupiahs a month.
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