Indonesia is currently at a crossroads in its demographic history. The momentum of the demographic bonus, namely a situation where the productive age population (15–64 years) is greater than the non-productive population, has become a strategic discussion in various national development agendas.
In this context, the youth group (aged 16–30 years according to Law Number 40 of 2009 concerning Youth) plays a central role. However, is our policy towards youth adaptive enough to the dynamics of the times? Is the Youth Law, which is more than 15 years old, still relevant to answer the challenges faced by the young generation of Indonesia today?
Based on the 2024 Indonesian Youth Statistics released by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), it was recorded that around 64.63 million people or 23.45 percent of the total population of Indonesia are classified as young people. This is not just a statistical figure, but is a great potential for this nation. However, in the midst of demographic opportunities, Indonesian youth actually face various structural problems.
First, from the education aspect, there is still a striking gap. Around 33.15 percent of young people are only educated to junior high school level or lower. Access to higher education is still dominated by groups living in urban areas and having middle to upper economic backgrounds. This inequality makes the competitiveness of Indonesian youth at the national and global levels less than optimal.
Second, the open unemployment rate (TPT) for young people reached 13.19 percent, much higher than the national figure of around 5.3 percent. This means that one in every eight young people active in the labor market is unemployed.
