The Precarious Generation: How Indonesia’s Youth Navigate the Broken Promise of Social Mobility

Abstract

Higher education, digital connectivity, and professional aspirations are commonly presented as pathways to upward social mobility for Indonesia’s younger generations. However, the relationship between educational attainment and economic security has become increasingly important to examine amid concerns about employment quality, informal work, and unequal access to opportunity. This study proposes to investigate how young Indonesians negotiate the gap between meritocratic expectations and their experiences of economic insecurity. It conceptualizes precarity not merely as unstable employment but as a broader condition involving uncertain futures, constrained autonomy, and difficulties in achieving socially recognized milestones of adulthood. A qualitative research design would combine semi-structured interviews with young adults from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, documentary analysis of labor-market and education policies, and examination of public narratives concerning youth success and personal responsibility. Participants would be selected to capture differences in educational attainment, employment status, gender, and urban or rural residence. The analysis would draw on theories of social reproduction, precarity, and intergenerational inequality to examine how structural constraints shape individual aspirations and perceptions of success. Rather than assuming that Indonesian youth constitute a homogeneous demographic group, the study would investigate how class position and social location influence their opportunities and coping strategies. The research aims to contribute to comparative discussions on youth transitions and social mobility in emerging economies. Its policy implications concern the relationship between education, decent work, and more inclusive pathways toward economic security.