Jakarta – The economic crisis is still gripping the country, with the number of poor families rising from 6.9 million last year to 7.7 families this year, according to the results of a new survey. The number of poor families make up over 16 percent of the estimated total number of families in the country.

The data was announced on Wednesday by the National Family Planning Board (BKKBN) based on a census it held from February to April. The census also shows an increase in the total number of families in the country from 45.7 million to 47.3 million this year.

The board's deputy for planning and analysis, Mazwar Noerdin, said that the indicator used to measure a poor family is its ability to satisfy food consumption and provide for health, housing and clothing needs.

According to Mazwar, as a result of the crisis, participation in the government's birth control program is also down from 25.2 million participants to 24.5 million.

In the education sector, the census shows that the older the children get, the fewer go to school. For the total 47.5 million children in the country aged between seven to 12 years old, 94.16 percent of them are enrolled in school.

But for young teenagers aged between 13 and 15, only 81.14 of them go to school. No exact figures were released on the total number of children in that age group. As for the teenagers aged from 16 to 18 years old, only 59.5 percent from a total of 11.58 million go to school.

This means that some 4.6 teenagers of that age do not go to school, an increase of about 1.68 percent from last year's census. "Most of them come from poor families, of course. And they end up in the street," Mazwar said, referring to the older teenagers who do not go to school.

The government has initiated several programs to help the poor, and according to Mazwar the board itself has launched a program called the Campaign to Increase Family Incomes (UPPKS) to help housewives establish their own business. It also gives out free contraception.

The board plans to hold another census next month, to ascertain the latest information on poor families. "Based on this data, the government will determine the number of families who deserve free medical services at community health centers and state hospitals," Mazwar said of the planned three-month census. Some Rp 3 billion (US$375,000) has been allocated for the census which will be conducted by some 1.5 million enumerators.