How Jakarta's Traffic Affects Labor Market Outcomes for Women and People with Disabilities

For more than two decades, female labor force participation (FLFP) in Indonesia has been low, at around 51 percent, compared to an 84 percent labor force participation rate for males. One possible barrier to greater FLFP in cities is urban transport costs. Jakarta has some of the world's worst traffic, and large urban transport or commuting costs increase the time it takes for women to perform daily activities that take place outside the home. If public transport investments reduce commuting costs, they could generate time savings that could increase female labor force participation, expand urban mobility, and make females more productive in their daily lives. In September 2016, the Australia Indonesia Partnership for Economic Governance (AIPEG) commissioned SurveyMeter and the RAND Corporation to conduct a baseline survey to assess the extent of transport problems currently encountered by women and people with disabilities that may influence their labor market outcomes. When combined with future surveys, these baseline data may enable an impact assessment of future public transport programs on FLFP and other gender and disability-related objectives. This final project report reviews the literature on FLFP and commuting costs, describes SurveyMETER and RAND's approach to designing the survey, and summarizes major findings from the baseline data.