Coordinating Minister Muhaimin: Need for policies to protect the middle class

The Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment (Menteri Koordinator Bidang Pemberdayaan Masyarakat or Menko PM) Abdul Muhaimin Iskandar said there is a need for policies that protect the middle class so they do not slide down the economic ladder. ‘Poverty reduction policies are not enough to focus only on helping the poor; we must continue to move to prevent vulnerable groups and the middle class from slipping,’ Muhaimin Iskandar said at a coordination meeting titled ‘The Role of Local Government in Optimising the Implementation of Poverty Alleviation and the Eradication of Extreme Poverty’ in Jakarta on Wednesday. He said poverty remains a major challenge in Indonesia, marked by a decline in the number of middle-class households and a significant rise in vulnerable poor groups. ‘Pressure on the cost of living, uncertainty in the job market, and rising costs of education and health will continue to potentially erode our middle class resilience,’ Muhaimin added. He noted that this phenomenon shows economic shocks can easily push vulnerable groups into the poverty abyss. The Coordinating Ministry for Community Empowerment (Kemenko PM) continues to promote empowerment efforts so that people can climb up a class and become agents of development. ‘If we want people to continue climbing the ladder and maintain their dignity, empowerment of the people is the key. With this paradigm, people do not just receive aid; we encourage them to become agents of development,’ Muhaimin said.