Demographic and Health Survey 2009-10 - Timor-Leste Ministry of ...

20.9 years. Although the proportion of women married by age 15 has declined from 7 percent among
women age 40-44 to 1 percent among women age 15-19, there is a noticeable decrease in the median
age at marriage over the last few decades from 22.0 years among women age 45-49 to 20.6 years
among women age 25-29. This trend is in contrast to what is usually seen in countries undergoing
social change and increased access to schooling, which typically bring about a delay in the age at
marriage. This trend is also confirmed when comparing similarly collected information from the 2003
DHS where the median age at first marriage among women age 25-49 was found to be 21.4 years.
The system of dowry accepted in some communities in Timor-Leste, in which a man pays dowry to
the prospective bride’s family, could exert some pressure for early marriage among women, because a
man who marries a woman who is already pregnant is not obliged to give a dowry to her family prior
to marriage.
Men on the other hand marry much later than women. Table 6.3 shows that among men age
30-49, 5 percent were married by age 18, 13 percent by age 20, 25 percent by age 22, and 48 percent
by age 25. The median age at marriage among men age 30-49 is 25.3 years.
Table 6.4.1 shows the median age at first marriage among women age 25-49 by five-year age
groups, according to background characteristics. Urban women marry only slightly later than rural
women. The median age at marriage by district shows some notable variation. Women in Covalima
marry two years earlier than women in Baucau.
82 | Other Proximate Determinants of Fertility
Table 6.4.1 Median age at first marriage: Women
Median age at first marriage among women by five-year age groups and age 25-49,
according to background characteristics, Timor-Leste 2009-10
Background
characteristic
25-29 30-34
Current age
35-39 40-44 45-49
Women
age
25-49
Residence
Urban 20.7 21.2 21.9 20.5 21.0 21.1
Rural
District
20.6 20.1 20.7 21.2 22.2 20.8
Aileu 20.6 19.8 20.6 21.0 20.8 20.6
Ainaro 20.0 20.1 21.6 21.0 22.9 20.8
Baucau 22.3 20.1 21.6 22.6 26.1 22.2
Bobonaro 21.1 19.7 20.7 21.5 22.0 21.0
Covalima 18.9 19.1 19.5 20.1 20.9 19.7
Dili 20.9 21.5 22.5 20.6 21.5 21.4
Ermera 21.1 20.7 20.1 20.4 22.0 20.8
Lautem 20.5 20.0 20.9 20.4 20.3 20.4
Liquiçá 21.7 20.1 20.2 20.6 21.1 20.7
Manatuto 20.6 21.4 21.8 21.2 22.2 21.3
Manufahi 20.3 20.2 20.9 21.6 22.7 20.7
Oecussi 18.8 19.4 20.3 20.7 19.6 19.8
Viqueque
Education
19.9 20.6 20.7 22.3 22.9 21.0
No education 20.3 19.8 20.4 20.8 21.8 20.7
Primary 19.3 19.3 20.0 20.0 21.0 19.7
Secondary 21.0 21.0 21.8 22.3 25.0 21.5
More than secondary
Wealth quintile
24.9 24.9 (25.7) * * a
Lowest 19.8 19.9 20.8 22.0 23.8 20.9
Second 20.6 19.8 20.7 21.1 22.3 20.8
Middle 21.0 20.0 20.4 20.8 21.6 20.7
Fourth 20.6 20.4 20.4 20.3 20.8 20.5
Highest 20.8 21.3 22.0 20.9 21.8 21.3
Total 20.6 20.4 20.9 21.0 22.0 20.9
Note: The age at first marriage is defined as the age at which the respondent began
living with her/his first spouse/partner. Figures in parentheses are based on 25-49
unweighted cases. An asterisk indicates that a figure is based on fewer than 25
unweighted cases and has been suppressed.
a = Omitted because less than 50 percent of the women married for the first time
before reaching the beginning of the age group