Teenage motherhood has been a global concern to the government for three distinct reasons: for those of health, psychology, and for its socio-economic consequences at both the individual as well as the societal level. However, little is known about teenage motherhood in Indonesia. This study examines the factors influencing teenage motherhood in Indonesia utilizing the nationally representative 2007 Indonesia Demographic and Health Survey data set.
To investigate the occurrence of early motherhood during teenage years, the study deals with married teenagers, or those who have been married, and adult women. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate analyses have been used in scrutinizing the data. The findings indicate that almost 50 % of the married teenagers have already experienced motherhood and have at least one child currently. As well as that, almost 60 % of the married adult women started childbearing for the first time in their teenage years (below 20 years old).
The results of the multivariate logistic regression analyses suggest that women’s current age, their age at first marriage, contraceptive use, ideal number of children, women’s working status, and mass media exposure are important determinants of early motherhood among teenagers in Indonesia presently. The factors which have affected the experience of teenage motherhood among adult women in Indonesia in the past, on the other hand, have included: age at first marriage, use of contraception, ideal number of children, women’s and husband’s level of education, type of place of residence, and wealth index. Therefore, there are some factors which are significant for teenage motherhood among adult women, but are not significant among teenage women.