Mirna Nadia | 17 September 2026
Beyond Nuclear Family: Social Exclusion and Informal Social Protection Networks in Urban Jakarta is a collaborative research project between the Institute for Advanced Research (IFAR) Atma Jaya and the Institute of Public Policy (IPP) Atma Jaya. The project examines how assumptions about the nuclear family shape access to social protection and care networks among urban poor communities in the Greater Jakarta area. It investigates how these concepts are translated into social registries, eligibility criteria, and administrative practices, potentially excluding people whose living arrangements do not fit into such dominant ideas of family. The project also explores how excluded or underserved individuals and households rely on informal social protection through extended kinship, neighbours, friendship networks, religious groups, and community-based mutual assistance. By connecting formal social protection with everyday practices of care and support, the project aims to contribute evidence toward more inclusive social protection policies that reflect the reality of contemporary urban family and household arrangements in Indonesia.
Keywords: family, social protection, social exclusion, care, urban poverty, informal networks, Jakarta, Indonesia