Veronica Tan Reveals Poverty as the Trigger for the Prevalence of Child Marriage in Indonesia
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Deputy Minister for Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection (Wamen PPPA) Veronica Tan has revealed that economic pressures and family poverty are the main triggers for the prevalence of child marriage cases in Indonesia.
She assesses that economic limitations lead parents to take the shortcut of marrying off their underage daughters to reduce the family burden.
“That is the main source; if we look at the facts we experience continuously, it is a recurring event, a repeating system. So, no economy, the mother is already married and has many children, in the end, the child is just married off,” said Veronica to reporters at Jakarta City Hall, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday (8/4/2026).
This condition creates a poverty cycle that results in the sacrifice of children’s futures.
“Well, then if we look at the economic level, it’s not sufficient, so a 15-year-old child who is not yet of age will be married off. This is actually the bubbling we see,” explained Veronica.
Furthermore, Veronica emphasised that child marriage has the potential to trigger various new social crises.
Children who are not yet physically and mentally mature are forced to become parents amid economic pressures.
“Then a 15-year-old child has another child, she also doesn’t know how to care for the child because of the economic pressure. In the end, because of this lack of economy, insufficient economy, poverty, stunting occurs,” she said.
Therefore, the government is intensifying education programmes through a peer approach.
“Both through the Adolescent Information and Counselling Centre (PIK Remaja) programme, where we know that adolescents tend to listen more to their peers,” said Isyana.
In addition, the Generasi Berencana (GenRe) programme, which gathers young people aged 10 to 24 across Indonesia, is also being optimised to change adolescents’ mindsets regarding the risks of child marriage.
“This requires a process, so the process is continuously carried out, efforts including ongoing education are carried out, and of course economic empowerment must also be one of them. And the most important thing is collaboration across ministries,” stated Isyana.