Dinamika Pengalaman Generasi Sandwich pada Pekerja Prekariat di Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta
NURJIHAD AKBAR FISABILILLAH SIREGAR, Dr. Suharman, M.Si
2026 | Skripsi | Sosiologi
Fenomena generasi sandwich pada pekerja kelas prekariat di Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta (DIY) menghadirkan dinamika sosiologis yang kompleks akibat irisan antara ketidakpastian pasar kerja informal, tuntutan kultural, dan absennya jaring pengaman sosial dari negara. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis dinamika pengalaman pekerja prekariat terdidik dalam menjalani peran ganda sebagai generasi sandwich, serta memetakan implikasi sosial-ekonomi yang ditimbulkannya. Menggunakan metode kualitatif dengan pendekatan fenomenologi, data dikumpulkan melalui wawancara mendalam terhadap lima informan pekerja informal berpendidikan tinggi di DIY dan didukung oleh studi dokumentasi. Proses pemaknaan subjek atas pengalamannya dianalisis menggunakan paradigma Reflective Modernity (Modernitas Refleksif) dan Teori Masyarakat Risiko (Risk Society) dari Ulrich Beck, serta Teori Prekariat dari Guy Standing.
Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa pekerja prekariat terdidik mengalami devaluasi ijazah akibat terbatasnya pasar kerja formal di Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta, sehingga terjebak dalam fleksibilitas semu dan fluktuasi pendapatan harian. Beban generasi sandwich di tingkat lokal melampaui batas konvensional (vertikal), meluas secara horizontal untuk menanggung kebutuhan hidup dan pendidikan saudara kandung maupun kerabat. Ketimpangan ini memicu beroperasinya individualisasi risiko, di mana negara melakukan de-institusionalisasi dan memprivatisasi beban kesejahteraan ke dalam ruang domestik. Menghadapi keterbatasan tersebut, pekerja merumuskan hierarki risiko dengan memprioritaskan "bahaya terlihat" (subsistensi harian) dan mengabaikan "bahaya tak terlihat" (stagnasi kelas dan kemiskinan usia tua). Meskipun pekerja mengaktifkan refleksivitas individual dengan membangun solidaritas komunitas pertemanan sebagai jaring pengaman alternatif, ruang tawar mereka tetap dibelenggu oleh eksploitasi moral otoritas keluarga dan moral sosial dari masyarakat dalam bentuk nilai bakti (filial piety). Kondisi eksploitatif ini memicu efek bumerang berupa kerusakan biologis (irreversible) pada skala mikro serta kemandekan mobilitas sosial vertikal pada skala makro. Sebagai strategi adaptasi subjektif dan perlawanan akhir atas jebakan kerentanan ini, Sebagian informan memunculkan kesadaran dekonstruksi keluarga tradisional berupa wacana penundaan keturunan (childfree) dan redefinisi peran anak sebagai wujud protes atas pengabaian struktural.
The phenomenon of the sandwich generation among precariat-class workers in the Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY) presents complex sociological dynamics arising from the intersection of informal labor market uncertainty, cultural demands, and the absence of the state-provided social safety nets. This study aims to analyze the dynamics of educated precariat workers experiences in navigating their dual roles as members of the sandwich generation, and to map the social and economic implications this entails. Employing a qualitative method with a phenomenological approach, data were collected through in-depth interviews with five highly educated informal workers in DIY and supported by documentation studies. The Subjects process of meaning-making regarding their experiences was analyzed using the paradigm of Reflective Modernity and Ulrich Beck’s Risk Society Theory, as well as Guy Standing’s Precariat Theory.
The findings indicate that educated precariat workers experience a devaluation of their diplomas due to the limited forma labor market in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, leaving them trapped in pseudo-flexibility and daily income fluctuations. At the local level, the burden of the sandwich generation exceeds its conventional (vertical) boundaries and extends horizontally to cover the living and educational needs of siblings and other relatives. This inequality triggers the operation of risk individualization, whereby the state engages in de-institutionalization and privatizes the burden of welfare into the domestic sphere. Confronted with these limitations, workers formulate a hierarchy of risk, prioritizing “visible dangers” (daily subsistence) and neglecting “invisible dangers” (class stagnation and poverty in old age). Although workers activate individual reflexivity by building friendship-based community solidarity as an alternative safety net. Their bargaining space remains shackled by the moral exploitation of family authority and of social morality from society in the form of filial piety values. This exploitative condition produces a boomerang effect in the form of irreversible biological damage at the micro scale and stagnation of vertical social mobility at the macro scale. As a subjective adaptation strategy and ultimate resistance against this trap of vulnerability, some informants develop a consciousness of deconstructing the traditional family, expressed through discourses of delaying childbearing (childfree) and redefining the role of children as a form of protest against structural neglect.
Kata Kunci : Generasi Sandwich, Prekariat, Masyarakat Risiko, Nilai Bakti, Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta.
