Income Distribution and Levels of Living in Java, 1963-1970

In 1973, the Indonesian government decreed the need for increased equity to supplement earlier efforts to produce growth. Time series data are analyzed for Java from a governmental statistical investigation. Ru areas experienced little change in income distribution between 1963 & 1970, showing continuing high inequality. Ur areas showed increasing inequality, the highest quintile gaining substantially at the expense of the lower three. Both Ru & Ur areas (other than Jakarta) declined considerably, relative to Jakarta. Estimates of living levels are complex, given interregional price variations & government subsidies, but about 50% of the Indonesian population appears to have been below a designated poverty line in 1970. These data further indicate an absolute decline in real income levels. 6 Tables. W. H. Stoddard.