Analisis Faktor-Faktor yang Mempengaruhi Kemiskinan di Provinsi Kepulauan Riau

Tujuan penelitian ini ialah menganalisis pengaruh pertumbuhan ekonomi, upah minimum, jumlah penduduk, dan belanja bantuan sosial terhadap jumlah penduduk miskin, serta mengidentifikasi karakteristik kemiskinan di Kabupaten/Kota Provinsi Kepulauan Riau periode 2011-2022. Meskipun persentase penduduk miskin di Provinsi Kepulauan Riau termasuk paling rendah di Indonesia, namun provinsi ini cenderung rentan terhadap kemiskinan, yang dicerminkan oleh tren fluktuatif jumlah kemiskinan selama periode 2011-2022. Hasil statistik inferensial menggunakan metode regresi data panel menunjukkan bahwa meningkatnya pertumbuhan ekonomi berpengaruh signifikan terhadap penurunan kemiskinan, kenaikan upah minimum menyebabkan peningkatan kemiskinan, meningkatnya jumlah penduduk berpengaruh signifikan terhadap meningkatnya kemiskinan, sedangkan peningkatan belanja bantuan sosial mampu menurunkan kemiskinan namun tidak berpengaruh signifikan. Hal menarik dicermati dalam konteks karakteristik kemiskinan berdasarkan statistik deskriptif. Penduduk miskin di Kepulauan Riau cenderung didominasi oleh mereka yang berpendidikan rendah, berstatus tidak bekerja (menganggur), memiliki banyak anak, dan tinggal di perkotaan. Saran kebijakan untuk menekan angka kemiskinan di Provinsi Kepulauan Riau diantaranya dengan mendorong pertumbuhan ekonomi yang inklusif, kehati-hatian dalam menaikkan upah minimum, pengendalian jumlah penduduk dan memaksimalkan penyerapan anggaran bantuan sosial serta strategi penyaluran bantuan sosial yang lebih tepat sasaran. ======================================================================================================================== The aim of this research is to analyze the influence of economic growth, minimum wage, population size, and social assistance expenditure on the number of poor people, as well as to identify the characteristics of poverty in the District/City of the Riau Islands Province during the period 2011-2022. Despite the fact that the percentage of poor people in the Riau Islands Province is among the lowest in Indonesia, this province tends to be vulnerable to poverty, as reflected by the fluctuating trend of poverty levels during the period 2011-2022. Inferential statistical results using panel data regression method indicate that increasing economic growth has a significant impact on reducing poverty, an increase in the minimum wage leads to an increase in poverty, an increasing population size has a significant effect on increasing poverty, while an increase in social assistance expenditure is able to reduce poverty but does not have a significant impact. An interesting aspect to note is the characteristics of poverty based on descriptive statistics. The poor population in the Riau Islands tends to be dominated by those with low education levels, unemployed status, having many children, and living in urban areas. Policy recommendations to reduce poverty rates in the Riau Islands Province include promoting inclusive economic growth, caution in raising the minimum wage, population control measures, maximizing the absorption of social assistance budgets, as well as implementing more targeted strategies for distributing social assistance