Social Assistance and Smoking Behavior in the Sprawling Megapolitan City of Jakarta

Abstract

As the capital city, Jakarta, with its megapolitan characteristics, has a diverse smoking behavior population with high-income inequality. This study analyses the factors of smoking behaviors and the effect of social assistance from the government in Jakarta. The urgency of this study is to determine the factors that impact increasing smoking behavior. Smoking behavior has a negative impact, not only on the health side but also on the social-economy side. From the health side, based on the data, smoking is the second leading cause of death in the world, affecting around 7 million people a year and rising to 8 million deaths by 2023. The intensity of smoking can adversely affect the health of various organ systems and add the brain to the list of organs. This negative impact affects the next generation, directly or indirectly. On the other socioeconomically side, previous research has shown that smoking is more common in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. This study uses secondary data from the 2023 National Socioeconomic Survey (SUSENAS), with the methods used being OLS, logit, and probit. The results showed that demographic and economy conditions affect smoking behavior in Jakarta. In addition, social assistance provided by the government also offers a positive influence on smoking behavior because it can encourage cigarette consumption through an income-effect approach.