The role of women in development frequently gets less attention, including their role in the demographic bonus. The demographic bonus has been created because more than half of the wives of young couples have been willing to join family planning programs since the 1970s.
It started from an elderly couple who had plenty of children and wanted to end the birth of their children due to childbirth fatigue, declining health and the condition of their children, who were neglected. The behavior was transmitted to young couples and in line with the theory of Ansely Coale (1973), couples realized and started to calculate that having less children is beneficial, the concept of small families is accepted by society and the number of ideal children of two or three was achieved through the use of contraception.
Changes in childbirth patterns caused a prolonged decline in the birth rate along with an increase in life expectancy that caused changes in the structure of the population age. The proportion of the young population below 15 years of age decreases and the proportion of the working age population increases rapidly, causing the ratio of dependency to decline.
With less children, parents can be more concerned with the quality of children and for the state, the fiscal burden to fulfill the basic rights of children, who consume but are not able to produce, decreases. The fall in the dependency ratio is the one that created the demographic bonus that can be exploited if the larger number of workers become more productive and get decent incomes, spend on goods and services and save or invest the remainder.
The realization of this condition triggers economic growth and improves prosperity. However, until now, a requirement for reaping the demographic bonuses was frequently forgotten. This too-rapid change in the age structure has not been followed through with an increase in the quality of human capital. However, the opportunity for that is wide open with the genuine effort to create human capital that is healthy, intelligent, productive and competitive.
The role of the mothers will be decisive with the quality care of the mothers, starting from the first 1,000 days of the life, where a child\'s cognitive capability is formed in the fetus in the womb. Then the mothers will also escort the growth of children until they are adolescents and ready to enter the world of work and replace the profile of the current workforce, which has not been profitable. The role of mothers in forming children is crucial for the success of the children in the future.
The opening of a window of opportunity, which will widen to 2020-2040, 10 years longer than the original estimation, seems to give adequate time to form human capital that is qualified and has good character.
Participation in the world of work
Women in the demographic bonus can also be seen from their participation in the world of work. Half of the working age population today is female. The participation of women in the labor market will help increase productivity. Economic efficiency increases where the use of all human resources is optimized.
However, Indonesian women are still struggling because the rate of female participation in the labor market is still lower than that of men.
Perhaps this is due to the old paradigm on the sexual division of labor, where the duty of men is to earn the bread and the duty of women is to take care of the household. It is also undeniable that stereotypes categorize work on the basis of gender. Even though this condition is changing and access for women to the world of work has nearly reached equality, equity for women has not been fully created.
The data shows that even though women have the same education in the labor market, the salaries of women are always lower than men (Sakernas 2016). There was once a controversy about whether women should work out of the house and hand over the care of children to other persons or stay at home and accompany the children to enable them to grow into quality. Which is more important?
With higher education, of course women today want to actualize themselves to participate and contribute to the welfare of the nation, both in the world of work and in society. The choice is really tough. Staying at home means a loss of opportunity (opportunity cost) that can be obtained in work. Moreover, the increased participation of women in the labor market will also help boost productivity, which will fuel economic growth.
However, the controversy diminishes in line with the presence of the digital era and the rise of e-commerce. Women can participate better in the world of work while raising children at home to enable children to grow healthily and intelligently.
The era of digitalization provides opportunities where work and parenting are compatible. Woman can help improve productivity and increase national incomes.
Paying attention to their rights
The contribution of women in creating the demographic bonuses is worthy of respect. We should fulfill their human rights as women and their right of reproduction. Let the girls, especially in the villages, finish their 12 years of education, postpone marriage and choose their own partners, form families through birth planning.
Teenage pregnancies, which increase the risk of death of pregnant women, have to be eliminated. Studies show that aside from educational achievement, cognitive skills (mathematical skills and mastery of science and technology) are more significant for economic growth.
The last thing that needs to be considered is that the domestic activities of women, which actually have economic value, can increase national incomes.
The concept of "working" women has to be reviewed again and adapted to technological developments. Working for women does not have to mean going out of the house.
SRI MOERTININGSIH ADIOETOMO
Professor of the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Indonesia; Head of the Masters Program of Population and Employment Economics of the Faculty of Economics and Business of UI
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