A brief history

From an historical perspective, the dramatic social consequences of the Asian financial Crisis which hit Indonesia and other asian countries in the late 1990s can be considered as a turning point in the importance given to social security by the country. By sending large proportion of the unprotected population into poverty, the crisis revealed the need to rethink and improve the system.

Before the crisis and as in many developing and middle income countries, the right to social security was the privillege of a small proportion of the population (namely civil servants and formal private sector employees).

Indeed, after the country's independance (1945), regulation on work accident compensation covering medical care, invalidity and death benefit were adopted in 1947. In 1963, two social policy programmes were established: the civil servant welfare fund (Pembelanjaan Pegawai Negeri) called DIASPERI and the civil servant Insurance saving (Tabungan Asuransi Pegawai Negeri) called TASPEN.

DIASPERI was designed to be a social assistance program for civil servants, compemsating for natural disaters, while TASPEN were a social Insurance program for civil servants and the military, providing retirement benefits.

The social security programme was then extended to the private sector workers in 1964. A voluntary program both for employees and employers and covering health-related benefits( medical care, maternity and death benefits) called Social Security Fund ( Dana Jaminan Social) were established in 1964. This programme will be replaced by the employees' social insurance (ASKES) and become compulsory in the late 1970s.

A Compulsory contribution Health programme for civil servants and military personnal is established in 1968. This programme further developped a voluntary health insurance  to expand the membership and was transformed to a limited liability company, PT ASKES, in 1992. 

In 1992, Law No.3/1992 concerning manpower Social Security (JAMSOSTEK) is issued  and the program benefits included health insurance, work accidents, old-age savings and death benefits. This programme didn't have an unemployment insurance component, exposing its participants to the consequences of the crisis which hit the country a few year after its implementation.

In 2000, the government initiated the process of a deep social security reform aiming to put in place a system which would be able to better react to future schoks. The reform was accepted by the consultative assembly in 2002 with the primary objective to extend social security to cover the entire population.