Minimum wages vary throughout the country since provincial governors have authority to set a minimum wage floor and district heads had authority to set a higher rate. In Central Sulawesi, the region benchmarked by the Global Living Wage Coalition, a minimum wage varies between 2,736,698.00 Indonesian Rupiah (160 EUR) and 3,489,319.00 Indonesian Rupiah (204 EUR) per month^[1]. The minimum wage in 19 of 34 provinces was below the national poverty income level. Furthermore, workers in the informal sector correspond to an estimated 57% of the labour force and do not receive the same protections or benefits as workers in the formal sector.^[2] 

The Global Living Wage Coalition developed 4 regional benchmarks for Indonesia: 2 Living Wage Reports for urban areas of West Java and Banten, and 2 Living Income Benchmark for rural areas of Lampung Province and Central Sulawesi.

Employing the Anker Methodology, the reports estimated a living wage in three districts: South Tangerang in the province of Banten, and Garut and Subang in the province of West Java, in Indonesia. Most of the factories supplying footwear to international companies are located in the districts selected for the estimation exercise. For West Java, the value was estimated at 4,268,825 Indonesian Rupiah (249 EUR), and for the Baten Province, 5,096,650 Indonesian Rupiah (297 EUR). 

Furthermore, the Living Income Benchmark for Lampung Province and Central Sulawesi, in rural Indonesia, also report living wage estimates. In Lampung Province, the focus was at coffee value chains and the value was estimated at 3,450,380 Indonesian Rupiah (201 EUR). In Central Sulawesi, the study focused in a region where cocoa production is important, and the living wage was estimated at 3,523,577 Indonesian Rupiah (206 EUR) per month.^[1] 

Living income

The living income estimates are focussed on coffee and cocoa productions in the Indonesia. The study in Lampung was commissioned by the International Coffee Organization (ICO), as the country  is the third largest producer and exporter of coffee in the world producing, in the main, the Robusta variety. Lampung was selected as the target research area because the province is the second largest producer among provinces in Indonesia and it was also prioritized as a target area for research by both the Government and the other main stakeholders. In the region, a living income was estimated at 5,323,074 Indonesian Rupiah (311 EUR). This is the cost of a basic but decent living for a family of 4 with 1,65 workers^[2]. 

For Central Sulawesi, a living Income benchmark was estimated at 5,271,554 Indonesian Rupiah (308 EUR). This is the value a family of 4 with 1.6 workers would need per month to afford a basic but decent living. The cocoa bean is one of the most important agricultural exports of Indonesia, and this report estimates living income of farmers in Indonesia in rural Central Sulawesi where large concentrations of smallholders are located. The main locations of cocoa production are Sulawesi (Central, Southeast, West and South Sulawesi), and Sumatra (Lampung, North Sumatra and West Sumatra). The island of Sulawesi is, by far, the major producer of the cocoa bean and contributed 59.4% of total cocoa production in 2020.^[3] 

A living income benchmark and actual income assessment for coffee farmers was also conducted by Result+ Consulting and funded by GIZ. The aim of this study is to assess the income needed for farming families to have a decent life in Bandung Regency, West Java province. The Anker methodology was used to measure this standard of living income, and complementary, the actual income was also calculated to find out how much Arabica coffee farmers actually earn in the area. The living income for coffee farmers in Bandung Regency was estimated at around 5,455,506 Indonesia Rupiah (319 EUR) per reference farming family. Meanwhile, the average actual Income is 2,754,968 (161 EUR)^[4]. Therefore, there is a gap of  2,700,538 Indonesia Rupiah (156 EUR) or actual Income is about half when compared to a Decent Living Income.