Cak Imin says the middle class is shrinking not due to lifestyle, but because of the cost of living

Muhaimin Iskandar, the Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment, said that the decline of the middle class is not solely due to lifestyle, but the pressure of living costs. He noted that job market uncertainty and rising costs of education and health care are not in line with middle-class incomes.

“Pressure from the cost of living, job market uncertainty, and rising costs of education and health care will continue to erode the resilience of our middle class,” said Cak Imin at the event ‘The Role of Local Government in Optimising the Implementation of Poverty Alleviation and the Elimination of Extreme Poverty’ at the Office of the Coordinating Ministry for Community Empowerment in Central Jakarta on Wednesday 4 March 2026.

According to Cak Imin, the shrinking number of middle-class households is evidence that economic pressures can alter an individual’s welfare.

This phenomenon also shows that economic shocks can easily push vulnerable groups into poverty, especially the middle class.

Meanwhile, Indonesia’s economic growth has been heavily influenced by consumption by the middle class, which has long been the main driver of economic stability.

Therefore, Cak Imin argues that policies and government programmes should not focus solely on the poor.

He said the government has set an extreme poverty target of 0 percent in 2026.

Therefore, regional policies and budgets will not impact the welfare of the people and will widen inequality if poverty indicators are neglected.

“Along with that, we are optimistic and confident that national poverty will fall to as low as 5 percent by 2029,” he added.