Human Capital Quality Mediates Education Policy and Employment Access on the  Impact of Structural Poverty

Ayyu Faizatul Jariyah; Subagyo Subagyo; Sugiono Sugiono

doi:10.55227/ijhess.v5i2.1859

Authors

Ayyu Faizatul Jariyah Universitas Nusantara PGRI Kediri
Subagyo Subagyo
Sugiono Sugiono

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55227/ijhess.v5i2.1859

Keywords:

Human capital quality, structural poverty, education policy, access to employment

Abstract

Structural poverty remains a major challenge for developing countries despite the various policy interventions that have been implemented. The era of digital transformation creates new complexities in poverty alleviation that require an integrated approach. This study investigates the role of human capital quality as a mediator in the relationship between education policy and employment access to structural poverty reduction in Kediri Regency, Indonesia. Using a quantitative approach with Structural Equation Modeling (SEM-PLS), data were collected from 100 respondents through stratified multi-stage sampling in three sub-districts with different poverty levels. The analysis used SmartPLS 4.0 to evaluate measurement and structural models and test mediation hypotheses. The results show that education policies and access to employment have a significant effect on reducing structural poverty either directly or through the mediation of the quality of human capital. Specifically, education policy demonstrates a significant direct effect (β = 0.266, t = 2.620, p = 0.009), while access to employment shows a stronger direct impact (β = 0.420, t = 3.736, p = 0.000). Human capital quality significantly affects structural poverty reduction (β = 0.287, t = 3.439, p = 0.001). The quality of human capital has been shown to mediate the relationship between education policies and access to employment against structural poverty with a significant partial mediating effect with VAF values of 21.3% and 29.1% respectively. The model demonstrates strong predictive capability with R² = 0.812 for structural poverty and R² = 0.668 for human capital quality. The findings confirm that human capital development is a critical transformation mechanism that transforms policy inputs into sustainable poverty reduction outcomes in the context of the digital economy. The research contributes to the development of an integrated policy framework for the optimization of poverty alleviation through the strengthening of human capital

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