Recent Divorce Trends in Indonesia

What’s Really Happening, And Why?

Prof. Mark Cammack

 Historically High Divorce

•       Divorce rates in Southeast were historically among the highest in the world

•       In 1950s  ratio of divorces to marriages in the same year about 50 percent

•       The ‘general divorce rate’—the number of divorces per 1000 persons aged 15 and over—was 15.1

–      General divorce rate in US in 1950  was 3.5, and by 1990 “only” 6.0

–      In Egypt, highest among Muslim countries in Middle East, general divorce rate was 4.8

Declining Divorce in Indonesia

•       The rate of divorce in Indonesia and elsewhere in island Southeast Asia declined steadily from about the middle of the twentieth century

•       This presents a puzzle, since divorce rates in both the developed and developing world were generally rising during this period

–      In 1970s divorce rate in US surpassed divorce rate in Indonesia

Explaining Changing Divorce Behavior

•       Ideological and structural changes associated with modernization have generally resulted in greater marital instability

–      Emphasis on self-fulfillment and intimacy within marriage

–      Greater gender equality

–      Increased economic independence of women

•       Changes associated with industrialization do not automatically lead to more divorce

•       Economic change disrupts established family patterns that can cause the divorce rate to rise or fall

–      The effects of industrialization must be considered in light of the existing marriage system

Factors Facilitating High Divorce

•       Features of the social system that sustained high divorce rates in Indonesia include:

–      Early arranged marriages served social interests of parents

–      Little stigma associated with divorce

–      Economic independence of women

–      Ease of divorce

Reasons for Decline in Divorce

•       The economic changes that caused divorce rates to rise in much of the world resulted in a decline in divorce in Southeast Asia

–      Changed relationship between parents and children

–      Rise in age of marriage

–      Decline in arranged marriage

–      Increasing education

–      Emphasis on affective ties within marriage

–      Imposition of legal restrictions on divorce?

 Recent Trends in Divorce Filings

•       The long-term trend toward lower divorce appears to have changed since the beginning of the twenty first century

•       The number of divorce cases decided by Islamic courts rose at an annual rate of ,078 in the five year period between 2003 and 2008.

 

 Divorce Filings and Divorce Behavior

•       The number of divorce cases cannot be equated with the number of people divorcing

•       The occurrence of unauthorized divorce effected by the husband’s extra-judicial repudiation of his wife is well documented

Explaining the Rise in Divorce Cases

•       There are at least three possibilities to explain the increase in court filings

–      The increase in the number of court divorces could be entirely a result of a decrease in the number of unauthorized divorces

–      The increase is entirely a result of an increase in the rate of divorce in society

–      The rise in court filings is a result of a combination of an increase in the rate of divorce and a decline in the frequency of unauthorized divorce

Survey Data on Self-Reported Divorce

•       Survey data indicates an increase in the frequency of divorce in society beginning around the turn of the twenty first century

 

Explaining the Recent Trends

•       What is driving the increase in the number of people divorcing?

•       Why are more people processing their divorce through the courts?

Rising Rates of Divorce

•       Is the change in divorce behavior associated with particular demographic groups or elements within society?

–      The upturn in divorce is lower in urban areas, among non-Muslims, and among those who marry later

–      The upturn in divorce is slightly higher among most educated

–      But none of these differences are statistically significant. Thus, there is no clear evidence that the upturn in divorce is substantially greater in subsets of population

Ratio of Cases by Women

•       One documented change that may bear on both issues is a change in the proportion of divorce cases filed by wives in relation to men

•       Since 2001 the number of cases filed by men has remained relatively flat while the number of cases filed by women has increased significantly

 

Questions for Discussion:
Increased Compliance w/ State Law

•       What are the changes that result in more frequent use of the courts to formalize divorce?

–      Increased public awareness of procedures and costs that have reduced fear and anxiety

–      Greater availability of free divorce

–      Improved relations between the Religious Courts and local Office of Religious Affairs (KUA)

–      Increase in the use of courts to formalize extra-judicial divorces

–      Other

Increase in Divorce

•       What factors are associated with rising levels of divorce?

–      Increased assertiveness of wives

–      Greater awareness of law and/or domestic violence issues

–      Other