JAKARTA – Mr Zavaraldo Renaldy, 28, is educated, single and in possession of a good job, but to his parents’ dismay, he is not in want of a wife.
While Mr Zavaraldo is not averse to meet-ups and casual dating, he has shied away from long-term commitments in order to focus on his career as a mapping surveyor.
A growing number of people in Indonesia, like Mr Zavaraldo, are putting off marriage. A total of 1.58 million couples said “I do” in 2023 – 128,000 fewer than in 2022. That number has been steadily falling since 2018, when 2.01 million marriages were recorded in the world’s fourth-most populous nation, according to Indonesia’s statistics agency.
“With very high competition in the workforce and expensive housing prices, you need more time to get ready to settle down and start a family,” said Mr Zavaraldo, who plans to marry only in his mid-30s.
Although Mr Zavaraldo’s parents are keen to see him settle down and start a family, he is adamant that nuptials will have to wait. Later in 2024, he plans to pursue his master’s degree in the Netherlands, in what he hopes will be a career-enhancing move.
While declining marriage figures might be common in countries with shrinking populations, Indonesia’s population is actually growing each year, which underscores concerns by experts of changing attitudes towards marriage.
South-east Asia’s most populous nation recorded a population of 277.5 million in 2023, compared with 267 million in 2018.
“Indonesia’s young population has been on the increase, but the number of marriages nationwide has been declining,” said sociologist Dede Oetomo, a professor of gender studies at Airlangga University in Surabaya, East Java.
Declining marriage rates would jeopardise Indonesia’s stated target of becoming a developed country by the time it celebrates its centennial of independence in 2045.
Indonesia wants to capitalise on its current demographic bonus – a period in which people of working age outnumber those who are economically dependent, which will peak between 2020 and 2035 – to avoid being stuck in the middle-income trap, Indonesia’s family planning agency (BKKBN) head Hasto Wardoyo told The Straits Times.
“If we do not do it right, the demographic bonus will pass, and it never gives leverage for the people’s welfare. Our population must be adequately high if we want to avoid a middle-income trap,” said Mr Hasto.
Countries fall into the middle-income trap if they are not able to move from a low-cost to a high-value economy. In order to transition successfully, there must be high enough population growth to help fuel economic growth. Hence, there is concern over declining marriages and subsequent birth rates.
At the same time, divorces are more common now, with 500,000 a year, compared with 10 years ago when there were between 250,000 and 300,000, noted Mr Hasto.
Indonesians as a whole are becoming more individualistic, choosing to pursue personal goals instead of following traditional and cultural norms that emphasise the wider society, and having a harder time committing to marriage and all it entails, said Mr Hasto.
A better-educated workforce and the financial burdens of marriage and children are perhaps the biggest factors standing in the way of Indonesian couples tying the knot, sociologists told ST.
Source link : https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/indonesia-s-growing-population-falls-out-of-love-with-marriage
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Publish date : 2024-04-08 03:00:00
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