Research

Consequences of Child Marriage in Indonesia (Research by MAMPU and University of Melbourne)

Child marriage has, in recent years, become a focus of Indonesian public policy. In September 2019, Indonesia’s parliament voted unanimously to raise the legal age of marriage for women from 16 to 19 years, in line with the legal age of marriage for men (House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia, 2019). These changes are potentially good news for current and future Indonesian children, but the law is yet to be implemented across the nation. The aim of this report is to document the consequences of child marriage for Indonesian girls and boys – as they grow into women and men, for their households and their children – and so contribute to a better understanding of the impact of child marriage and the benefits of implementing policies to assist in reducing its prevalence and its consequences.