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Indonesian Workers with High School/Elementary Education Report the Most Cases of Wages Below Minimum Wage in 2025.

Erlina Fury Santika 19/01/2026 10:29 WIB

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Data from the Ministry of Manpower, analyzed by LPEM FEB UI, shows that 38.9 million workers reported wages below the district/city minimum wage (UMK). Here are their education levels.

Proportion of Workers Reporting Wages Below the Regency/City Minimum Wage by Educational Attainment (2025)

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Proportion of Workers Reporting Wages Below the Regency/City Minimum Wage by Educational Attainment (2025)

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Data from the Ministry of Manpower (Kemenaker), processed by the Institute for Economic and Social Research, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Indonesia (LPEM FEB UI), indicates that 38.9 million Indonesian workers reported wages below the district/city minimum wage (UMK) standard in 2025.

Broken down by educational attainment, workers with high school and elementary school degrees were the most numerous, accounting for 22.03% and 21.67% respectively of the total reported. In absolute numbers, this amounts to over 8 million from each educational level.

Researchers state that these workers reporting wages below the UMK generally work in low-productivity sectors. The weak bargaining position of workers also contributes to their vulnerability to substandard wages.

The next most numerous educational levels are junior high school (SMP) and vocational high school (SMK), at 17.33% and 15.22% respectively.

For SMK graduates, researchers estimate the number to be around 5.9 million workers. The biggest challenge lies in the initial phase of entering the job market.

"For those already employed, wages tend to be closer to the UMK, higher than for general secondary education graduates," according to an analysis by LPEM FEB UI uploaded to its Instagram account on January 7, 2026.

Next are workers with Bachelor's degrees (S1) (10.81%), those who did not complete elementary school (9.61%), Diploma I/II/III (2.53%), Diploma IV (0.35%), Master's degrees (S2) (0.35%), and vocational Islamic high school (Madrasah Aliyah Kejuruan or MAK) (0.08%).

Among S1 graduates, more than 4 million workers reported. According to researchers, many of these graduates work below their qualifications and enter low-paying entry-level jobs.

"Many are absorbed into informal and semi-formal sectors that do not comply with UMK," LPEM wrote.

LPEM explained that the phenomenon of wages below UMK is often associated with compliance issues. However, in many cases, this condition is also influenced by job characteristics and the worker's position in the labor market.

"Wages below UMK do not always reflect mere violations, but also indicate the limited reach of minimum wage policies for certain groups of workers," LPEM said.

This analysis is contained in the LPEM Labor Market Brief, compiled to examine the 2026 UMK more contextually. Data was processed from the Ministry of Manpower (Kemenaker) and the February 2025 edition of Sakernas (National Labor Force Survey) from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).

Editor : Erlina Fury Santika

"Disclosure: This is an AI-generated translation of the original article. We strive for accuracy, but please note that automated translations may contain errors or slight inconsistencies."

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Indonesian Workers with High School/Elementary Education Report the Most Cases of Wages Below Minimum Wage in 2025.

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