Indonesian single mother makes ends meet by driving a tricycle

“As a woman, I don’t want to be weak,” Ekawati said. (representative))

Jakarta, Indonesia:

Single mother Ekawati, with her three-year-old daughter by her side, drives her three-wheeled autorickshaw through Jakarta’s notorious traffic as a growing number of Indonesian women seek informal work outside the home One, she was one of the women who was barely making ends meet.

Ekhawati didn’t have many options – after her first husband died and she divorced her second, she needed to pay rent and raise her four children on about 150,000 rupees ($10) a day, Pick up your order outside the bustling textile hub. Tanah Abang Market.

“Driving a three-wheel taxi is the fastest way to make money. I have tried various jobs but this is the most convenient,” said the 42-year-old, who has been driving rented vehicles for about 15 years.

Her eldest son, now 20, has dropped out of school and helps out by working as a courier, but Ekhawati said she is still barely making ends meet as paying rent of 800,000 rupees and feeding her children take up all her income.

According to Statistics Indonesia (BPS), 12.72% of Indonesian households had a female breadwinner in 2022, with most of them concentrated in urban areas. Meanwhile, the number of female homemakers has begun to decline during the pandemic.

Meanwhile, many Indonesian women have turned to informal employment in the service and agricultural sectors to support their families after official job prospects plunged during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the World Bank.

Ekhawati lost her second child to an illness, but she managed to send her son to a primary school with help from the local government.

Now, she’s trying to get similar assistance for her other son, who’s in junior high.

“I have to drive this tricycle so that I can provide my children with proper food, clothing and a house,” Ekhawati said with tears in her eyes.

“I hope God gives me good health. I also hope my children can be as successful as I have been.”

Working in a male-dominated environment, Ekhawati said she had to be tough to survive on the streets, where sexual harassment and extortion by street thugs were rife.

“Once, a passenger asked me to sleep with him for Rs 5 lakh. I immediately asked him to get off the bus,” she said.

“As a woman, I don’t want to be weak. I have to be strong because I make a living on the streets. No one is going to help me but myself.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)