Surveys show persistence of teenage marriage and childbearing in Indonesia and Nepal

Publication Date: January 2001

Publisher: East-West Center

Author(s): Minja Kim Choe; Shyam Thapa; Sulistinah Irawati Achmad

Research Area: Education; Population and demographics

Type: Brief

Coverage: Indonesia

Abstract:

Recent surveys show that nearly three-quarters of rural women in Nepal and more than half of rural women in Indonesia marry while still in their teens. In both countries, four out of 10 rural women have a child before they reach age 20. Analysis shows that women's education is the only variable consistently associated with later marriage and childbearing. Although the effects of primary education are small, early marriage and childbearing drop steeply among women with junior high or higher education.