Bad News, Poor Population In Karawang Increases By 8.26 Percent

Illustration - The condition of the houses of the poor in Karawang Regency, West Java. (Photo: Ali Khomeini/Antara)

JAKARTA - The number of people below the poverty line in Karawang Regency, West Java has increased by 8.26 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Judging from the graph, the number of poor people in Karawang in 2020 increased compared to the previous year," said the Head of the Agency Karawang Statistics Center Budi Cahyono in Karawang, reported by Antara, Wednesday, September 8. Likewise this year, when compared to last year, the number of poor people has the potential to increase, because in 2021 they will still be in the COVID-19 pandemic period, according to data. According to the local Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the poor population in the Karawang area in 2020 reached more than 195,000 people. Meanwhile, during the 2019-2020 period, there was an increase in the number of poor people in Karawang. The number of additions is more than 21,000 people.

Meanwhile, if it is a percentage, the increase in the number of poor people from 2019 to 2020 reaches 8.26 percent. According to him, with the number of poor people in Karawang reaching more than 195,000 people, the poor population in Karawang is the seventh highest in West Java. "From existing data, the number of poor people in Karawang is the seventh highest out of 27 regencies/cities, and contributes 4.98 percent of the total number of poor people in West Java which reached 3.92 million as of March 2020," he said. The increase in the number of poor people during the COVID-19 pandemic was triggered by the low purchasing power of the people. Because statistically, the decline in people's purchasing power can have an impact on increasing the poverty rate.