The increasing rate of marriages and premarital pregnancies in adolescents during the transitional period of changes to the marriage law

Abstract

The increasing number of adolescent marriages can have various impacts on society. The government’s effort to reduce the number of adolescent marriages is to revise Marriage Law no. 16 of 2019, which changes the minimum age for marriage to 19 years old. This study focuses on analyzing the differences in trends of adolescent marriage and premarital pregnancy during the transitional period of changes to the marriage law. This research was a cross-sectional study using secondary data from the Central Statistics Agency, Ministry of Religion, and Religious Courts of Malang Regency. The data related to adolescent marriage were the data obtained in 2016-2020. The adolescent marriage rate map was made using the QGIS application. The marriage rate of adolescents aged <19 years old increased. In 2016 the prevalence was 1.38% of the total number of marriages, and it increased to 5.85% in 2020. The marriage dispensation rate also increased from 1.77% (2016) to 8.74% (2020). The major reason for applying for marriage dispensation is because the adolescents are still aged < 19 years old and have premarital pregnancies. The highest marriage rate of males was in 5 sub-districts, while the highest marriage rate for women was in 31 sub-districts. Changes in the minimum age limit for marriage do not automatically reduce the rate of adolescent marriage. Thus, it is important to have a synergistic role in society to increase awareness for a healthy marriage, relationship, and morale.