The average age of first marriage for Indonesian women in their reproductive period who give birth to an average of two children: National survey (2017 – 2019)

Abstract

Background: The results of the 2020 population census in Indonesia showed that the population has reached 270.020.000 million. This number shows that the population in Indonesia during the last 10 years has increased by around 32,56 million people.  One of the BKKBN's efforts to reduce the birth rate in Indonesia is to urge people to marry at the ideal age, 21 years for women and 25 years for men.    Methods: This study used GPAS/ SKAP data for the period 2017, 2018, and 2019 using the module for women aged (15-49) and the sample used was all women aged 40-49. This analysis used secondary data from the 2017, 2018, and 2019 government performance and accountability surveys.  Results: The age at first marriage for women should be encouraged to be 25 years old, not 21 years old, which has always been echoed and socialized.  Age at first marriage is the most dominant factor in women aged (40-49) to have more than two children (2017 SOR: 4.17 95% CI [1.85-17.31], (2018 SOR: 57.14 99% [4.12-793.67]) (2019 SOR 21.22 99%  CI [2.28-197.45]), while only in 2019 the AFM variable after controlling for it remained significant in influencing having children more than 2 (AOR 27.64 99% [2.88-265.20]).   Conclusion: Women aged (40-49) who have a younger age at first marriage (10-24) have a longer reproductive age range, so they have relatively more children than women who married at the age of 25 and over.  After controlling for other factors, the characteristics of women who have a tendency to have more than two children. Therefore, it is necessary to design a health strategy that is more suitable to the needs, characteristics, and capacity of women to reduce the birth rate in Indonesia is to urge people to marry at the ideal age.