Across the world, the International Labour Organisation has highlighted the significant impacts lockdown policies have had on 1.6 billion informal workers, concentrated in low and middle income countries like Indonesia. The differing effects of Covid-19 responses on informal sector workers and those in formal employment is a massive issue for Indonesia, where more than half of the workforce works in the informal sector. How have informal sector workers coped during the Covid-19 crisis in Indonesia, and what is the Indonesian government doing to assist them?

In this week’s Talking Indonesia podcast, Dr Dave McRae discusses these issues with Joanna Octavia, Visiting Fellow at Centre for Strategic and International Studies Indonesia, and a PhD Candidate at the Warwick Institute for Employment Research. She is the author of the recent CSIS Commentary, Towards a national database of workers in the informal sector: COVID-19 pandemic response and future recommendations.

Today’s episode is the latest in the “Policy in Focus” series of Talking Indonesia episodes, supported by the Knowledge Sector Initiative (KSI), a partnership between the Australian and Indonesian governments that aims to improve the use of evidence in development policymaking. This series will appear periodically in alternate weeks to the regular Talking Indonesia episodes. The views expressed in this podcast episode do not represent the views of the Australian or Indonesian governments.

The Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Dave McRae from the University of Melbourne’s Asia Institute, Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, Associate Professor Dirk Tomsa from La Trobe University and Dr Charlotte Setijadi from the Singapore Management University.
Look out for a new Talking Indonesia podcast every fortnight.

Photo credit: Aditya Pradana Putra for Antara Foto