Premium
SOCIAL PROTECTION VIA RICE: THE OPK RICE SUBSIDY PROGRAM IN INDONESIA
Author(s) -
TABOR Steven R.,
SAWIT M. Husein
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
the developing economies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.305
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1746-1049
pISSN - 0012-1533
DOI - 10.1111/j.1746-1049.2001.tb01000.x
Subject(s) - christian ministry , subsidy , agency (philosophy) , macro , economics , finance , business , economy , political science , sociology , social science , computer science , law , programming language
PRIOR to the 1997–99 economic downturn, Indonesia had made tremendous progress in reducing poverty and food insecurity. In 1970 a total of 59 per cent of the rural population were classified as poor, as were 51 per cent of urban residents. By 1996 the figures had fallen to 9 per cent in the cities and 12 per cent in the rural areas, or 11 per cent overall (Irawan and Sutanto 1999). Many more people fell into poverty as a result of the economic downturn. Based on the SUSENAS (National Socio-Economic Survey) surveys, between 1996 and 1998, the poverty headcount increased from 23 million to just under 50 million persons. Poverty incidence increased the most in urban areas, rising from a prevalence level of 9 to 22 per cent, but the absolute number of poor persons was greater in rural areas. In 1999 the poverty headcount fell to 38 million, due to falling food prices and large public transfer programs (Irawan and Sutanto 1999). The depth and intensity of poverty increased during the crisis. Irawan and Sutanto (1999) report that in 1996 around 74 per cent of the poor population reported monthly expenditures that were at least 80 per cent of the poverty line income. In 1998 and 1999, less than 60 per cent of the poor population had an average expenditure that was at least 80 per cent of the poverty line income. Although mounting urban poverty has attracted considerable press attention, the results from a series of