Determinants of early marriage among female adolescent in Indonesia

While studies on reproductive health issues are discussed widely, until recently early marriage among adolescent has not received enough attention across stakeholders in Indonesia. This research aims to analyze the determinants of early marriage among female adolescents in Indonesia.

This study employs data from the Indonesia Demographic and Health Survey (IDHS) 2012 on females aged 15-19 years (n = 7207). The analytical methods used to determine factors of early marriage were chi-square and multiple logistic regression.

The results from this research revealed that four determinants are significantly related to early marriage among female adolescent. Females who have not completed primary school tend to be involved in an early marriage more often than those who graduated from high school. Furthermore, underprivileged females tend to get married earlier than those with a high socio-economic status. Additionally, females living in rural areas are more prone to early marriage than those living in urban areas. Finally, well-informed females tend not to get married as early as females who do not have access to media information.

A stakeholder policy is required that promotes the status of females by improving access to national education, particularly for females in rural areas and those who live in poverty. Marketing and advertising media campaign targeting adolescent are needed to ensure greater access to information.