Book Chapter: Poverty and Digital Access for Females in Rural Areas in Indonesia
We are thrilled to announce that our paper, titled "Membangun Akses Digital bagi Perempuan Perdesaan untuk Pengentasan Kemiskinan", has been published as a book chapter in "Building Policies for the Future: A Collaboration of Ideas Toward a Prosperous Indonesia 2045". This paper is the result of a research collaboration between myself and Isnawati Hidayah.
The paper was presented at the 10th Annual International Forum on Economic Development and Policy (AIFED), organised by the Ministry of Finance, Republic of Indonesia, on December 1–3, 2021, under the theme "Finding New Sources of Growth to Recover Stronger".
In this research, we explored the relationship between poverty and digital access for women in rural areas of Indonesia. Using data from the 2018 National Socioeconomic Survey (Susenas), we constructed a Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).
Key findings include:
- Female-headed households are more vulnerable to poverty compared to male-headed households, with this trend being more pronounced in rural areas than in urban ones.
- Access to information and communication technology (ICT) and credit significantly reduces poverty for women-headed households in rural areas.
- Rural areas experience greater benefits from these interventions compared to urban settings.
Based on these findings, we propose three policy recommendations:
- Expanding access to ICT,
- Enhancing digital literacy, and
- Increasing access to credit for women in rural areas.
The book is available online at this link: https://ipbpress.my.id/product/membangun-kebijakan-untuk-masa-depan
Additionally, you can watch a related short video submitted to AIFED 2021.