Understanding the Resilience of Garment Workers’ Families Through a Mixed-Method Approach: Surviving the Economic Hardship During the Covid-19 Pandemic in Indonesia

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has exerted enormous economic stressors on garment workers in the form of income decline, furlough, and layoffs, affecting their families. However, research on family resilience among garment workers is limited, particularly in Indonesia. This study examines the factors associated with the resilience of garment workers’ families. We used a complementary mixed-methods approach to analyze data from the 2021 Family and Community Resilience Survey. To enrich the study, we also performed 23 in-depth interviews and two focus group discussions in Bogor and Bandung Regencies. We assess family resilience as their current status in resolving their most disruptive stressor. We fitted a multinomial logistic regression model and assessed the relative variable importance, with socio-economic characteristics, social assistance, and family organizational factors as groups of explanatory variables. Less than half of the families (46.67%) overcame their most significant stressor. Regression analysis shows that wealth index, cash assistance, and role in the family are the three most contributing variables. Qualitative results underscore the importance of economic resources or access to cash assistance during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, reliance on Emok Bank or other informal lenders can create new stressors due to their high-interest rates. This option is common among garment workers, who usually cannot access the government’s assistance as many are migrants. The study emphasizes the need to strengthen formal social protection systems, especially for vulnerable populations like garment workers, to protect them from future crises.