Household Expenditure on Education in Indonesia 2024

According to a study by Indonesia's Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS), there is a significant variation across economic classes regarding the proportion of education costs to total household expenditure in 2024.

Households from the poor and near-poor economic classes allocated, on average, approximately 3.96% and 3.62% of their annual expenditure to education costs, respectively.

“Although nominally small, this proportion can be very burdensome for poor households, especially since other basic needs, such as food and housing, tend to be more pressing,” said the BPS in its report.

The BPS stated that household education expenditure includes various components, such as school development contributions (entrance fees), tuition and committee fees, extracurricular activity fees, textbooks, stationery, and extra-curricular courses.

The maximum expenditure on education for households in these two economic classes reached 28.38% and 45.03% of their annual expenditure. The maximum value in the near-poor group, according to the BPS, reflects the sacrifice of consumption of other needs for education.

Meanwhile, the average proportion of education costs for households in the lower-middle and middle classes reached 4.28% and 6.66%, respectively, while the maximum proportion was significantly higher than all other groups, at 67.42% and 64.60%.

“This high maximum value can also indicate significant pressure from education costs for some households in this group, which can impact overall family economic stability,” said the BPS.

For upper-class households, the average proportion of education costs was higher than other economic classes, at 6.87%, with a maximum allocation of 37.09%.

According to the BPS, these findings reinforce the importance of focusing on the lower-middle and middle classes as transitional groups vulnerable to economic instability due to relatively high education costs.

“Progressive education subsidies or financial aid are highly relevant for this group to prevent them from losing momentum towards better social mobility,” said the BPS.