Athia Yumna – COVID-19, the poor and vulnerable

Globally, the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is having a devastating effect on the poorest and most vulnerable members of society. Prior to the virus emergency, Indonesia’s economy was the envy of many others around the world. Its steady GDP growth had led to a gradual decline in the number of Indonesians living below the poverty line to below 10 percent in late 2019. The economic shutdown and social distancing measures put in place to stop the virus have dramatically impacted the household incomes of these groups, many of whom work in Indonesia’s large informal sector. How will the economic contraction impact on Indonesia’s overall poverty levels? What is being done by government to provide assistance to the poor and vulnerable, including those who are in danger of falling into poverty? Will this be enough? What more can the government do?

To talk about recent research related to the impacts of COVD-19 on Indonesia’s poor and vulnerable and the government’s response, our guest this week is Athia Yumna is Deputy Director of Research and Outreach of the SMERU Research Institute. Athia has more than eleven years of experience working in the development sector and conducting applied economic research in the areas of poverty, inequality, social protection, health economics, and development economics. She is the lead author of the recently published Briefing Paper, 'Social Safety Nets amid the COVID-19 Crisis: What Should the Government Do Now?'.

In 2020, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Jemma Purdey from the Australia-Indonesia Centre, Dr Dave McRae from the University of Melbourne’s Asia Institute, Dr Charlotte Setijadi from the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore and Dr Dirk Tomsa from La Trobe University.

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Photo: Antara / Nova Wahyudi