In a 2025 IDN Research Institute survey, 68 percent of millennials and 63 percent of Gen Z admitted delaying marriage.
On social media, Gen Z also raised the issue of Marriage is Scary, and it was widely discussed.
According to Dr Mukhijab, lecturer and researcher in Sociology at Widya Mataram University, Yogyakarta, this phenomenon has multiple causes as well as impacts.
He mentioned that based on statistical data from the Central Statistical Agency (BPS) marriage figures in 2023 compared to the marriage figures of the previous year, it turned out that there was a decrease of about 128 thousand or up to 28.6 percent.
Dr Mukhijab, lecturer and researcher of Sociology at Widya Mataram University, Yogyakarta Credit: supplied/ Dr Mukhijab
The results of the private agency survey also saw there was a trend towards singleness among young children.
So, there are statistical data that show young children are delaying marriage, including children from gen z, Mukhijab said again.
He judged there was some kind of change in the social structure in society.
Educational attainment, both adolescent boys and girls is getting higher. Those who are highly educated, Mukhijab said, will put work first.
On the other hand, there is also the economic aspect. The dynamics of the Indonesian economy in the last 10 years have tended to fluctuate.
Although the national growth figure could reach 5 or more, what people, including Gen Z, feel are everyday problems, such as high food and housing prices, while their incomes tend to be lower.
The impact of a delay or decline in marriage figures cannot be seen from one side.
On the positive side, those who postpone marriage have the opportunity to improve the quality of life.
They will marry by the time it is well established, so the quality of his household life will be good, he said.
On the other hand, when a person does not get married because of economic problems, the impact can be negative.
Personally, this sociologist believes that there will be high social pressure.
Wedding party Credit: SBS Indonesian/RO
On the other hand, marriage for Indonesians is a “party arena” that has a chain effect for the business sector.
Indonesians see weddings as a kind of mass celebration, with hundreds or sometimes thousands of guests invited.
A wedding event therefore carries an impact also for the business.
In the United States, Mukhijab said at the peak of the decline in marriage rates in 2019, the wedding industry sector accounted for an economic decline of up to 76 billion dollars.
In Indonesia, it is not impossible that the impact will be the same, perhaps even higher.
Wedding crowd Credit: unsplash/Muradi
If there are family members who postpone the wedding, there will be internal problems. From the sociological side, Indonesians tend to see marriage as a symbol of life independence for the couple.
Those who are not married, will live with their parents or their core family, and this is sometimes assessed as a burden and a source of problems.
On the other hand, there is the problem of emotional needs, when an unmarried person constantly receives questions about when he will get married. Mukhijab added, there would appear alienation, in Karl Marx's terms. The further impact is that there will be an unhappy generation, a generation that is mentally disturbed, even though it is economically quite established.
Indonesians tend to have high social relationships.
This condition can be used to provide a way out of this problem. Indonesia needs steps to increase marriage rates, in order to avoid mental health problems and at the same time maintain demographic balance. If marriage delays continue to occur, there will be a composition of society where the older generation is more dominant.
One of the things that needs to be addressed is the economic situation. In addition, awareness is being campaigned that in Indonesian society, marriage is not just a technical social relationship to satisfy the emotional needs of two people alone. In marriage, Mukhijab continued, there is a socioeconomic dimension and a mental health dimension.
——-
Nurhadi Sucahyo
