More Filipinos get into a live-in marital arrangement in their mid-20s and marry in their 30s. This is based on the 2020 Census of Population and Housing (CPH) released on February 17, 2023 by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Based on the 2020 CPH, the country had a household population of 108,667,043 persons. Of this total, the household population 10 years old and over comprised 79.4 percent or 86,333,513 persons.
The base age of 10 years old was used in determining marital status of the population as guided by the Vitals Statistics Report (VSR). This is according to PSA chief and National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa in his interview with GMA News Online.
Mapa explained that based on VSR made in 2020, the earliest age of bride and groom is 13 years old. He added that there are data showing marriages happening as early as 12 years old.
The VSR is a yearly report on births, deaths, and marriages. It highlights data on the number and percent distribution, such as by month of occurrence, age, sex, and region, province, or city.
Statistics revealed that the 86.33 million persons aged 10 years and over in 2020 were found to be:
- 34.26 million persons (39.7%) never married
- 33.87 million persons (39.2%) married
The rest were categorized as:
- 17.7 percent in common-law/live-in marital arrangement
- 4.5 percent widowed
- 1.9 percent divorced/separated/annulled
The statistics also revealed that three in every five persons aged 30 to 54 years are married. That age group made up 61.0 percent of the sampled population.
Here's the breakdown:
- 40 to 44 years with 13.2 percent
- 35 to 39 years with 13.1 percent
- 30 to 34 years with 12.1 percent
- 45 to 49 years with 11.9 percent
- 50 to 54 years with 10.7 percent
Among married males, the highest proportion was reported in the age group 40 to 44 years with 6.7 percent. On the other hand, married females had a higher proportion among age group 35 to 39 years with 6.6 percent.
There was an increase in individuals getting into live-in or common-law marital arrangements from 2015 (9.2 percent) to 2020 (14.7 percent). The highest proportion was reported in age group 25 to 29 years with 20.8 percent. The same distribution was reported among males and females with 10.4 percent each.
The same trend was observed among those divorced/separated/annulled, registering 1.9 percent in 2020 from 1.5 percent in 2015. Meanwhile, the percentage of widows remained the same in 2015 and 2020 at 4.5 percent.
More females than males reported as widowed across all age groups. The same trend was observed who were divorced/separated/annulled.
Read here on living in before marriage.
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