Poverty: Economic Volatility and Aspirations in Indonesia

Published

November 27, 2025

Only data from the last month (October 2025) is used for this analysis. Green flows show an improvement, blue flows represent household that expect the same socio-economic status in 5 years and red flows expect a decline. The left side is the respondents’ subjective economic class and the right side is their expectation/aspiration of their future economic class in the 5 years from now.

Most Indonesians expect a better future

Total population

where are you now and in 5 years

Men

Women

Outlook on the future is improving

Only small differences between men and women

Life Satisfaction Correlates in Indonesian Households

Variables used on this page

Variables Used in Poverty and Economic Aspirations Analysis Socioeconomic Self-Classification

-wb32: Current self-reported economic class (1=Extreme poor to 5=Rich) - wb33: Expected economic class in 5 years (same scale) - vw23: Self-identifies as poor (Yes/No) - subj_poor: Derived binary indicator for subjectively poor

Household Life Satisfaction

  • wb3_num: Household life satisfaction measure (numeric scale)
  • wb3: Life satisfaction of household (original factor variable)
  • dissatis_index: Composite index of various dissatisfaction indicators

Household Financial Situation

  • wb1/wb2: Comparison of financial wellbeing (past 30 days/next 30 days)
  • wb5: Ability to pay for utilities
  • wb6: Borrowed money for basic needs
  • wb7: Used savings for basic needs
  • wb8: Sold assets for basic needs
  • sv3: Ability to save money

Infrastructure Access

  • sh1: Water disruption indicator
  • sh4/sh5: Electricity availability
  • sh12/sh14: Internet disruption (home/mobile)

Health and Education

  • wb9/wb10: Healthcare needs and access
  • wb12: Household sickness indicator
  • sh16: Children missed school indicator
  • sh21_a-f: Major life events (birth, illness, injury, death)

Food Security

  • totfoodinsec: Food insecurity index
  • Various individual food insecurity indicators (worried, unhealthy, skip_meal, etc.)

Income Sources

  • inc1/inc4/inc8/inc10/inc12: Different income sources (pension, social assistance, wages, agriculture, self-employment)

Public Perceptions

  • vw2/vw4/vw13/vw19/vw24: Views on government, economy, and institutions
  • vw9/vw10: Job market and business climate perceptions
  • sv28: Inflation perception