Gender, Health, and Economic Disadvantage

This thesis examines how laws, customs, and technology shape women’s opportunities in Indonesia. It highlights that reforms delaying marriage reduced early marriage and improved schooling, that norms around marriage payments are associated with women’s wellbeing in the household, and that access to mobile networks is linked to women’s knowledge of reproductive health. These findings show that progress toward gender equality rests on the interplay of factors that empower women to act on their choices.