Marital assimilation of Central Java people in

two destinations: Investigating patterns of

exogamous marriage and status exchange

Panel:

Prof. Peter McDonald; Dr. Ariane Utomo

Hasnani Rangkuti

PhD Conference

Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU

19 November 2014

Why marital assimilation?

To add to understanding of the underlying factors that

influence migration assimilation and the acceptance of

migrant groups by other groups, in particular by the natives

in the place of destination.

Why Central Java?

1. The largest source of out-migrants in Indonesia

2. Heartland of the Javanese, the largest ethnic group

3. BBK and JMR are important destinations for Central

Java people and have a wide range of ethnicities.

Contribution:

Producing new knowledge on the understudied area of

marriage pairing in Indonesia

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Research questions:

1. To what extent are Central Java people in an

exogamous marriage?

2. If they marry out, with what groups are they most likely

to inter-marry?

3. How do Central Java people compare with other groups

in their degree of exogamy?

4. Among Central Java husbands/wives, who marries out?

5. What are the relative education levels of the spouses

among Central Java people who marry out?

6. Is status exchange in relation to education evident

among Central Java people who inter-marry with the

local people?

Definitions:

- Destinations:

1. BBK (Batam-Bintan-Karimun) is an economic bounded

zone of three islands located in the Kepulauan Riau

province in Sumatera island.

2. JMR (Jakarta Metropolitan Region) is an economic

zone consists of 13 regions, located in the northern part

of Java island

- Concept used to measure assimilation:

1. Ethno migration status: based on place of origin.

2. Ethnicity: based on ethnic group classification.

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Theoretical review

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Individual’s

preference Role of social groups

Conditions of

marriage market

Determinants of exogamous marriages

Age

Location

Education Status exchange on

education

Educational matching

Data and Method used in the study

Data

• Indonesian 2010 population census data.

• Married co-resident couples in BBK and JMR

• Measured by ethno-migration status and ethnicity

1. Patterns of exogamous marriage

- Method: Binary logistic regression model

- Unit of analysis: married co-resident couples

- DV = 1 if in exogamous marriage; 0=otherwise

2. Testing of status exchange

- Method: Multinomial logistic regression model

- Units of analysis: Couples where one or both spouses are

from Central Java or the destination area, aged 20-39.

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Marriages of husbands and wives by ethno migration status

No. of couples= 287124

No. of couples= 5342103

BBK

JMR

Others Local born Central Java East Java North Sumatra West Sumatra Total

Others 18.17 5.07 2.01 1.58 2.64 2.08 31.55

Local born 4.59 17.89 0.86 0.74 0.82 0.62 25.52

Central Java 1.77 1.04 4.56 0.78 0.50 0.42 9.08

East Java 1.71 1.15 0.98 4.07 0.49 0.40 8.78

North Sumatra 2.01 0.88 0.47 0.37 11.18 0.66 15.58

West Sumatra 1.58 0.61 0.31 0.23 0.59 6.17 9.49

Total 29.84 26.64 9.18 7.77 16.22 10.35 100.00

Husbands' ethno

migration status

Wives' ethno migration status

Others Local born Central Java East Java North Sumatra West Sumatra Total

Others 8.91 5.83 2.24 0.66 0.28 0.21 18.12

Local born 4.83 45.14 2.98 0.80 0.33 0.28 54.37

Central Java 2.31 3.67 9.49 0.91 0.11 0.10 16.58

East Java 0.81 1.30 1.02 2.18 0.05 0.04 5.40

North Sumatra 0.40 0.66 0.21 0.08 2.07 0.06 3.48

West Sumatra 0.27 0.48 0.15 0.04 0.06 1.06 2.06

Total 17.53 57.08 16.08 4.67 2.90 1.75 100.00

Husbands' ethno

migration status

Wives' ethno migration status

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Marriages of husbands and wives by ethnicity

No. of couples= 286894

No. of couples= 5343416

BBK

JMR

Others Local ethnic group Javanese Minangkabau Batak Toba Chinese Total

Others 17.86 2.45 4.51 1.58 1.03 0.12 27.55

Local ethnic group 1.63 13.28 2.22 0.82 0.13 0.05 18.13

Javanese 3.67 2.49 19.30 1.60 0.49 0.09 27.65

Minangkabau 1.16 0.78 1.25 7.59 0.14 0.02 10.94

Batak Toba 0.55 0.10 0.34 0.09 6.81 0.02 7.92

Chinese 0.30 0.14 0.36 0.04 0.06 6.91 7.80

Total 25.17 19.25 27.98 11.73 8.66 7.22 100.00

Wives' ethnic groupHusbands' ethnic

group

Others Local ethnic group Javanese Minangkabau Batak Toba Chinese Total

Others 4.73 2.01 1.62 0.14 0.07 0.06 8.64

Local ethnic group 1.26 49.44 5.17 0.26 0.03 0.05 56.22

Javanese 1.25 6.56 20.87 0.25 0.04 0.06 29.03

Minangkabau 0.15 0.44 0.30 1.12 0.01 0.00 2.02

Batak Toba 0.07 0.07 0.08 0.01 0.68 0.00 0.91

Chinese 0.05 0.12 0.13 0.00 0.00 2.87 3.19

Total 7.52 58.64 28.17 1.78 0.84 3.05 100.00

Husbands' ethnic

group

Wives' ethnic group

Likelihood of being in exogamous marriage (ethno migration status)

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BBK

JMR

Likelihood of being in exogamous marriage (ethnicity)

10

BBK

JMR

Testing status exchange on education

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BBK JMR

Central Java born

husband/ Local

born wife

Local born husband/

Central Java born

wife

Central Java born

husband/ Local

born wife

Local born husband/

Central Java born

wife

Wives marry up on

education (0.930) 1.372 1.141 0.964

Educational homogamy

(Ref.)

Wives marry down on

education 1.327 (0.870) 1.320 1.492

BBK JMR

Javanese

husband/ Local

ethnic wife

Local ethnic

husband/ Javanese

wife

Javanese

husband/ Local

ethnic wife

Local ethnic

husband/ Javanese

wife

Wives marry up on

education 1.141 (1.009) 1.075 0.975

Educational homogamy

(Ref.)

Wives marry down on

education (1.112) 1.328 1.199 1.348

(): not significant at 5% alpha

Summary of preliminary results:

1. Patterns of exogamous marriages vary across the two destinations

and different measurements.

2. Percentages of marital assimilation among Central Java

husbands/wives are higher when measured by ethno migration

status than by ethnicity

3. Central Java people are more likely to marry with the local people

than other groups

4. Education positively influences the likelihood of being in an

exogamous marriage for both husbands and wives in BBK and JMR.

5. Educational homogamy dominates patterns of inter- and intra-

marriage in all places

6. Status exchange on education is not a predominant factor influencing

Central Java inter-marriage patterns. In fact, educational homogamy

is the dominant factor when Central Java people inter-marry.

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Thank you

Your feedback, suggestions and/or comments are appreciated

Contact: hasnani.rangkuti@anu.edu.au