Most 'Female Breadwinners' in Indonesia Face Double Burden of Household Management

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) report shows that 14.37% of the total workforce in Indonesia are classified as female breadwinners.

Female breadwinners are women who work and have the most dominant income in the household, or are even the primary earners for their families.

In addition to their role of earning money for the family's livelihood, the majority of Indonesian female breadwinners still carry out domestic activities, with 84.39% of them managing the household.

According to BPS, this condition explains the low number of female breadwinners who have side jobs and their limited additional working hours.

"The dual burden of being the primary earner while also managing the household makes them tend to choose more flexible jobs despite lower income," BPS stated in its *Current Issues Analysis 2025* report.

This phenomenon, BPS added, reflects strong gender norms, where women are still expected to perform domestic roles despite working.

Meanwhile, female breadwinners who have other activities besides managing the household accounted for 15.61%.

Another finding by BPS is that 40.77% of female breadwinners are wives in the household. This proportion is the highest compared to other statuses.

BPS stated that this condition is in line with research by Drago et al (2004), which suggests that many female breadwinners have husbands with low-income or unstable jobs.

"On the other hand, female breadwinners in modern households continue to work not only out of necessity, but to ensure family financial stability, invest in children's education, or improve living standards," BPS wrote, citing research from the World Bank in 2019.

Furthermore, 39.82% of female breadwinners are household heads.