Most Elderly Workers Have Low Levels of Education

Based on the 2018 Elderly Population Statistics, there were 9.27% or 24.49 million elderly people in Indonesia. The percentage of elderly people working in 2018 reached 49.79%. This indicates that one in two elderly Indonesians were still working in their old age. This percentage increased from previous years. The recorded percentage of working elderly people was 46.53% in 2015, 47.37% in 2016, and 47.92% in 2017.

Looking at the distribution of elderly workers in 2018, those with low levels of education were dominant. Elderly workers who did not complete primary school (SD) comprised almost half of all elderly workers based on education level, at 47.59%. The next largest group had completed primary school (SD), accounting for 33.5%.

Elderly workers who were junior high school (SMP) and senior high school (SMA) graduates comprised 8.43% and 7.26% respectively. Meanwhile, elderly workers who were university graduates only accounted for 3.22%. BPS (Statistics Indonesia) states that the high number of elderly workers with low levels of education is due to the fact that elderly individuals with higher education levels have accumulated sufficient wealth for their old age compared to those with lower levels of education.

(Read Databoks: [Five Provinces with an Aging Population in Indonesia])