“On Wealth: Is It the Only Thing That Connects Us?” An Exploration of Cross-class Interaction in Low-Incomes Public Housing

Lower incomes have struggled to connect with higher-income communities due to a lack of economic capital. In addition, public housing may limit social interaction with the outside communities. However, such interactions lead to higher rates of upward income mobility for lower-income communities. This study explores “cross-class interaction”, the social interactions between low-income public housing residents and higher-income individuals, and whether factors other than wealth can influence such interactions. Eight hundred-four samples were collected from four public housings in Jakarta, Indonesia. This study found that half of the respondents already interacted with higher incomes. However, it was limited to neighbours. On the other hand, around one-third of the respondents had actively engaged in social interaction with higher incomes outside of public housing communities. The regression analysis further shows that other than wealth, the frequency of visiting public amenities and homogeneity of the public housing influence the existence and frequency of cross-class interaction.