Why is the divorce rate declining in Indonesia?

This article examines trends in marital dissolution in Indonesia. Analysis considers the impact of educational expansion, delayed marriage, urbanizati on, increasing employment before marriage, legislative change, and increase d free choice in marriage on the decline in marital disruption. Trends such as delayed marriage and educational expansion account for about one third of the decline in marital dissolution. Moreover, factors associated with ma rital disruption are shifting in importance. In particular, age at marriage and marital duration are becoming less reliable predictors of marital stab ility, whereas education is becoming more important. We conclude that the s hifting forces governing marital formation and dissolution in Indonesia hav e modified the linkages between the conjugal couple, broader kinship system s, and modes of economic support such that traditional patterns sustaining high levels of marital instability are no longer in effect.