Landmark Report Reveals More Comprehensive Scope of Child Poverty in Indonesia

Jakarta, November 18, 2025 – Ahead of World Children’s Day, the Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas and UNICEF today launched two new reports that offer new insights on how children across Indonesia experience child poverty and deprivation.  

The publications Child Poverty in Indonesia and Multidimensional Child Right Deprivation in Indonesia were jointly produced by Bappenas, Statistics Indonesia (BPS), the SMERU Research Institute and UNICEF. 

The child poverty report finds that 11.8 percent of children more than one in nine live below the national poverty line. The multidimensional analysis, which uses 2023 SUSENAS data, examines multiple barriers faced by children who may not be considered poor by conventional definitions.  

According to this analysis, nearly four in ten children (37.4 per cent, 29.8 million) experience “multidimensional deprivation”. These children lack access to at least two basic dimensions of well-being: education, health, nutrition, protection, adequate housing, clean water and sanitation, and access to information.  

Key findings include:  

• Children in rural areas are far more likely to experience multidimensional deprivation (46.1 percent) than those in urban areas (30.8 percent). 
• In Maluku and Papua, eight out of ten children are multidimensionally deprived. While provinces in Java show lower rates, these provinces account for the highest absolute number of deprived children due to population size. 
• Nearly 40 percent of children face health-related deprivation. 
• Close to a third of children live in homes without proper toilets, safe water or cooking fuel.
• Nearly 40 per cent of children aged 5-6 do not participate in early childhood education.  

“The Multiple Overlapping Deprivation Analysis (MODA) approach, developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Development Planning, Statistics Indonesia (BPS), UNICEF and the SMERU Research Institute is intended as the basis for interventions to improve child welfare in a multidimensional way,” said Rachmat Pambudy, Minister of National Development Planning/Head of Bappenas.   

“Indonesia has taken a crucial step to look beyond consumption-based measures, striving to truly understand how overlapping hardships shape a child’s life and future,” said Maniza Zaman, UNICEF Representative for Indonesia. “The new report gives policymakers the tools to act more precisely and effectively to identify and reach the most vulnerable children with the necessary services and programmes.”  

The multidimensional analysis recommends:  

• Coordinate across ministries. Align planning and budgets between Bappenas and key ministries to deliver integrated services for young children.
• Invest across sectors. Shift from sectoral budgets to coordinated, equitable funding that addresses children’s overlapping needs.
• Strengthen the effectiveness of social protection. Further improve programmes such as Family Hope Programme (PKH) to ensure stronger linkages between cash assistance and health, nutrition, and education services.
• Use data to better include the most vulnerable. Apply child deprivation analysis and national datasets to guide inclusion and ensure resources reach the most vulnerable. 

The new reports support Indonesia's long-term (RPJPN) 2025-2045 and medium-term (RPJMN) 2025-2029 development goals and contribute directly to the national commitment to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 1.2. to reduce by at least half the proportion of men, women and children living in poverty in all its dimensions, according to national definitions, by 2030.   

“Let us make this shared commitment as a foundation to ensure that every child in Indonesia grows up in a safe, healthy environment, full of opportunities and joy, to achieve their best future,” concluded Minister Rachmat Pambudy.