Age at marriage and fertility in Java-Bali : a question of natural or controlled fertility

It is widely recognized that the level of fertility of women in Java is on the average lower than is found in most developing societies. Studies carried out in two villages in Yogyakarta have found that traditional practices such as prolonged breastfeeding, longer post-parturn abstinence and sexual taboos prevailed in these villages. These may lead to the impression that the low level of fertility of the Javanese women was achieved under a controlled fertility situation. In this study, an examination of fertility by age at marriage of once married women aged 40+ in Java-Bali, in 1976, has shown evidence that as compared to Henry's pattern of natural fertility, the level of fecundity of Java-Bali women was lower. The length of the first birth interval for women married very young was very high. Women who married after age 20 years reached their fourth birth sooner than those who married younger, which is evidence of of a 'catching up' effect. Further examination however, has shown that this result is due to the fact that these women in the early years of marriage were in the stage of peak fecundity. It was not the result of deliberate fertility planning. These women reached the stage of late subfecundity before they attained further births, while women who married younger have a much longer childbearing period to achieve their last birth. As a consequence, women who married younger had more exposure time and produced 6.4 children as compared to their counterparts who married older who had only 3 children. It is concluded that this is evidence of a natural fertility situation, that is according to Henry, fertility which is achieved in the absence of deliberate fertility control.