Union questions definition of unemployment
Union questions definition of unemployment
JAKARTA (JP): The chairman of the All-Indonesia Workers Union
Federation criticized yesterday the government's definition of
unemployment, which he said camouflages the problem.
Bomer Pasaribu said the Central Bureau of Statistics, which
compiles the national unemployment figure, defines a person as
being unemployed if he works less than an hour a week, Antara
reported.
This means that a person who works just 60 minutes a week,
earning probably just enough to buy a packet of cigarettes, would
be considered as employed, Bomer said.
"No wonder that unemployment in this country has officially
been put at between 2 and 2.5 percent of the workforce," he said.
This, he said, makes the employment situation in Indonesia
better than in western Europe, where the unemployment rates range
between 7 percent and 10 percent.
In advanced countries, a person is defined as unemployed if he
works less than two days in a five-day working week. This makes
the figures in western Europe closer to reality, he added.
He admitted that the conditions in western Europe and
Indonesia differ, and therefore the method of statistical
calculation would have to be different.
But to consider one hour a week as employment is not
acceptable and is misleading, he said, adding that in his opinion
the definition should be extended to those working less than 15
hours a week.
Analysts have warned that the large portion of agricultural
workers, who find seasonal work, must be taken into account when
compiling employment figures in Indonesia.
Bomer did not refer to the unemployment statistics released by
the Ministry of Manpower, which are based more on the number of
registered job seekers.
The ministry's figures, which have been cited more often by
the government, state that in 1995, 6.3 million or 7.24 percent
of Indonesia's workforce were out of a job. This represents an
increase from 2.3 million, or 3.17 percent, in 1990.
Bomer said defining someone who works for one hour a week as
employed only blurs the unemployment problem and solution.
No one can subsist on working an hour a week. The person's
productivity is low and this particular worker is still a burden
to the nation, Bomer said.
If Indonesia maintains that its unemployment rate is 2.5
percent, then it should be helping the advanced countries which
officially have higher unemployment figures, he said.
International agencies assessing the situation in Indonesia
will make the wrong conclusion if they look at the unemployment
figures published by the Central Bureau of Statistics, he said.
(emb)