Life Situations of Young Fathers in Greater Jakarta, Indonesia

Very little is known about the fatherhood experiences of young men in Indonesia. This paper uses the 2010 Greater Jakarta Young Adults Survey to describe the lives of young fathers in Jakarta, Bekasi and Tangerang. Those aged between 20-34 years old were randomly selected. The study demonstrates how education determines parenthood status among men and women, and compares and contrasts the labour market experience of young fathers and mothers. This provides the background for a review of young parents’ health and wellbeing, intergenerational economic transactions and their attitudes towards gender roles and children. Young adults in the Indonesian capital are delaying marriage and childbirth, but those who do become parents at an early age are likely to follow a male breadwinner model, with fathers holding less egalitarian attitudes towards gender roles than either their partners or males who are not fathers.