Leslie Retno Angeningsih, Rr. M.Sc., Ph.D and Thankam, Sunil and Xiaohe, Xu (2021) ARE THERE DIFFERENCES IN DECISION-MAKING POWER AND RELATIONSHIP QUALITY BETWEEN FREE-CHOICE AND ARRANGED MARRIAGES IN INDONESIA? EVIDENCE FROM YOGYAKARTA. In: The 5th Asian Population Association Virtual Conference, 3-5 August 2021.

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Abstract

Indonesia has the eighth largest number of child marriages globally, with one in nine women married under the age of 18. Though the marriage age for girls has been increased from 16 to 19 by the government in 2019, arranged/child marriages remain prevalent. Utilizing survey data from Yogyakarta, this study replicates prior research on marital behaviors and outcomes of free-choice vs. arranged marriages. Consistent with previous results from Japan, Turkey, China, and/or Nepal, this study reveals that: (1) Indonesian women with free-choice marriages report a greater share of decision-making power with their husbands than their counterparts in arranged marriages, (2) Indonesian women with free-choice marriages also report significantly higher levels of relationship quality (e.g., more satisfied with marriage and love) and a decreased odds of divorce/separation than their counterparts in arranged marriages, regardless of the length of the marriage, and (3), the equal sharing of marital power is significantly and positively associated with relationship quality, and more importantly, free-choice marriages benefit significantly more from this equal share than arranged marriages. Taken together, these results suggest that in Yogyakarta free-choice marriages are indeed more gender egalitarian and stable than arranged/child marriages. Policy and practical implications are discussed.

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