DIVORCE IN WEST JAVA

This paper traces trends in divorce rates in West Java over the past 4 0 years. West Java's divorce rate was among the highest in the world i n the 1950s and 1960s; by the mid-1980s, it was about one fifth as hig h as that in the United States. Regional differentials were, and still are, quite pronounced. The differentials appear to be related more to cultural than to socio-economic differences. The sharp declines have been related to social and economic changes, prominent among which wer e rising levels of income, expanded education and work opportunities f or girls, and a breaking down of traditional attitudes through improve d transport and communications. Concurrent with, and largely consequen t on these changes has been a rising age at marriage of females and de cline in arranged marriage, thus reducing the prevalence of those marr iages traditionally most prone to divorce. Ideology and legal changes also played a part in the decline in divorce though the legal changes followed, rather than led, changed community attitudes.