Exploring the Picture of Child Welfare in Jambi Province

Children are the next generation of the ideals and struggles of the nation.

The progress of a country will depend on the current and future generations.

Children as an important element driving the nation are expected to be able to become quality human resources.

To form good quality children, it must be ensured that their growth and development are also good.

Thus, an understanding related to child welfare is needed. If the child is prosperous, then the child can maximize his potential to develop into a superior and quality human being.

The main objective of national development, as stated in the preamble to the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, is to promote general welfare and to educate the nation's life at all levels of society, including children.

Advancing the general welfare means achieving prosperity for all people, both in terms of the economy as well as physically and mentally.

Then the purpose of the nation's intelligence is to ensure that all Indonesian people have the opportunity to receive a decent and quality education.

With the existence of an intelligent society, the development and progress of the nation will be achieved easily.

According to Law (UU) Number 23 of 2002 concerning Child Protection and Law Number 35 of 2014 concerning Amendments to Law Number 23 of 2002, Child residents are residents aged less than 18 years.

Furthermore, according to the law, children's rights are part of human rights that must be guaranteed, protected, and fulfilled by parents, families, communities, state, government, and local governments. Every child has the right to worship, think, receive education, be cared for by his own parents, and receive protection from various social and political riots.

The results of the 2020 Population Census (SP) conducted by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) show that 29.50 percent or 79.71 million Indonesians are children aged 0-17 years (BPS, 2022).

Meanwhile, the population of children aged 0-17 years in Jambi Province according to SP 2020 is 1,111,582 people or about 31.18 percent of the total population of Jambi (BPS Jambi Province, 2022).

Furthermore, the number of children aged 0-17 years in 2021 will reach 30.97 percent or as many as 1,110,173 people from the 3.58 million population of Jambi Province.

This is based on the results of the interim population projections conducted after the 2020 Population Census.

This shows that about one in three residents of Jambi Province are children.

Then, how is the condition of children's welfare in Jambi Province?

To see the condition of children's welfare, one of them is to look at the side of participation in education.

Child age education is very important role in developing children's academic abilities.

The journey of children's education is grouped into two, namely education at an early age and education at school age.

Therefore, BPS issued the Gross Enrollment Rate for Early Childhood Education (PAUD), School Participation Rate (APS) for ages 7-12 years, APS 13-15 years and APS 16-18 years.

The Gross Participation Rate (APK) for Jambi Province PAUD based on the 2020 SP is 32.91 percent.

This figure is still below the national figure of 37.52 percent and has not yet reached the target of PAUD APK according to the 2020-2024 RPJMN which is 40.20 percent.

Meanwhile, the APS 7-12 of Jambi Province based on the 2020 SP is 99.82 percent and 99.66 percent according to the 2021 National Socio-Economic Survey (Susenas) data.

Then the APS 13-15 is 96.41 percent based on the 2020 SP and 96.39 percent according to the 2021 Susenas data.

Furthermore, the APS 16-18 of Jambi Province is 72.37 percent based on the 2020 SP and 72.5 percent according to the 2021 Susenas data.

This shows that the smaller the school participation at the higher level in Jambi Province.

Another indicator to see the welfare of children is to look at the state of health of children in an area.

Children with excellent health conditions will be able to learn optimally, develop their potential, and expand their knowledge and skills.

One indicator to see the health status of the population roughly is with health complaints.

Based on Susenas data, around 15.58 percent of children in Jambi Province will experience health complaints in 2021.

This figure is smaller when compared to 2020, which is 23.28 percent.

This shows that the health of children in the Province has improved from the previous year.

The welfare of children can also be reflected from an economic perspective. The phenomenon of working children is still common in Jambi Province.

This phenomenon is related to the family's economic capacity or the problem of poverty, thus requiring children to work to help meet the needs of their family's life.

The number of children aged 15-17 years working in 2020 is 27,575 people or around 84.00 percent of the entire child labor force.

Meanwhile, in 2021, the number of working children aged 15-17 years will reach 21,197 people or around 86.07 percent of the entire child labor force.

Most of the working children are family workers or unpaid workers, which is 60.22 percent in 2020 and 59.30 percent in 2021.

Work will affect children's learning time. Working children tend to have less time to develop their academic potential.

Child welfare is related to the phenomenon of child marriage.

Based on Susenas 2021 data, as many as 0.51 percent of the population of children aged 0-17 years in Jambi Province are married.

In terms of health and psychology, children of this age have not been able to undergo marriage.

Marriage does not always bring happiness, especially if the marriage was held at the age of a child.

Child marriage will have an impact on the vulnerability of economic problems, reproductive health, emotional or mental management of children, the risk of divorce, and have an impact on the health of their children.

The growth and development of children is important in the struggle for the national progress movement. Good protection and care will allow children to grow and develop optimally.

Based on the data that has been described, information can be obtained that the welfare of children in Jambi Province is quite good in terms of health, but still needs to be improved in terms of education and economy.

Reference:

- BPS. 2022. Analysis of Indonesian Population Profile. Jakarta: Central Bureau of Statistics.

- BPS Jambi Province. 2022. Jambi Population Profile Analysis. Jambi: BPS Jambi Province.

- BPS Jambi Province. 2022. Child Population Profile of Jambi Province. Jambi: BPS Jambi Province.

- Law Number 35 of 2014, Amendment to Law Number 23 of 2002 concerning Child Protection. Accessed on August 26, 2022 from https://peraturan.bpk.go.id/Home/Details/38723/uu-no-35-tahun-2014.