Rosanna (not her real name) has been living with her partner without marriage for 17 years now. They are blessed with five children. She said having no money prevented them from getting married, but they still dream of a church wedding and saving for it.
Melanie (not her real name) is a single mother with three children from a relationship that did not also have the benefit of marriage.
Rosanna and Melanie are among the growing number of Filipinos who prefer living with their partners before marriage.
A “live-in” status before receiving the sacrament of marriage is now acceptable to most Filipinos, according to a survey from Church-run Radio Veritas.
In its latest Veritas Truth Survey (VTS), Radio Veritas said that a whopping 45 percent of its 1,200 respondents favored living together prior to getting married.
On the other hand, the “nationwide survey reveals that 40 percent would agree that couples should get married first before living together,” said the VTS results.
The remaining 15 percent of the VTS participants were undecided.
VTS head, sociologists Bro. Clifford T. Sorita, said the concept of “living in ‘’ prior to marriage was more acceptable among younger respondents particularly teens (13 to 20 years old) at 51 percent; and young adults (21 to 39 years old) at 58 percent.
Those who are against the scheme are mostly adults (40 to 60 years old) at 48 percent; and elderly (61 years old and above) at 61 percent.
Radio Veritas President Anton CT Pascual said the result of the latest VTS should be a “wake up” for the Church to intensify its information drive on the importance of marriage.
“We should evangelize our Catholic faithful on the transcendental value of marriage which places God in the union between husband and wife,” Pascual said.
Sorita said: “This comes from the ‘instant mentality,’ which comes from this young age group. The somewhat prolonged courtship process our elderly have experienced is something foreign among our young.”
The latest VTS, which asked the question: “Should couples get married first before living together; and not engage in a common-law partnership [live-in] arrangement?” was held online from January 1 to 31 with a +/- 3 percent margin of error.
Civil and church marriages
It should be noted that the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) recorded a total of 240,775 marriages in 2020, the start of the pandemic. This was a 44.26 percent decline from the 431,972 marriages posted in 2019.
Almost half, or 49.8 percent, of these marriages, or 119,903 marriages, were “solemnized” through civil ceremonies. This was a 28.07 percent decline from the 166,691 marriages in 2019.
It was notable that there were less civil ceremonies in 2020 compared to 2019 when these rites only accounted for 38.6 percent of the total number of marriages in that year. The share of these marriages in 2020 compared to 2019 represented a decline of 11.2 percentage points.
In terms of marriages solemnized under the Roman Catholic Church, the data showed they accounted for 67,233, or 27.9 percent, of the total marriages in 2020. This was a 57.03 percent contraction from the 156,481 marriages solemnized by the Catholic Church in 2019.
In terms of share, similar to civil ceremonies, there was also a decline. In 2019, marriages solemnized by the Catholic Church accounted for 36.2 percent, which meant there was an 8.3 percentage point decline in the share in 2020 compared to 2019.
The data also showed that there were 3,212 marriages solemnized through Muslim rites and 2,272 solemnized through tribal ceremonies. Some 48,155 other marriages were solemnized through other religious rites.
Gender and Age
Majority of marriages solemnized through the civil rites happened among males and females aged 25 to 29 years old. There were 45,436 males whose marriages were solemnized through a civil ceremony and 46,470 females.
The data also showed that the second age group that married through civil rites is the 30 to 34 age group among males at 28,626 and the 20 to 24 year old age bracket for females at 30,851 marriages.
It can be noted that while there were no males aged under 15 years old who got married through civil ceremonies, five females who were in the same age group were married through these rites.
For marriages solemnized through the Roman Catholic Church, both males and females belonging to the 25 to 29 age bracket composed the bulk of these marriages. There were a total of 27,420 males and 28,799 females in this age group who got married through Catholic rites.
It can be noted that like civil ceremonies, there were no males under 15 years old who got married through Catholic rites. However, there was one female in this age group who got married through the Catholic Church.
In terms of marriages solemnized under Muslim tradition, the bulk of males and females belonging to the 25 to 29 years old and 20 to 24 years, respectively were done through Muslim rites. This consists of 905 males aged 25 to 29 years old and 913 females aged 20 to 24 years old.
However, PSA data show that as many as 25 females and two males below 15 years old were married through Muslim rites. The bulk of male and female children married in 2020 pegged at 51 children, were done through Muslim tradition.
In terms of tribal ceremonies, the bulk of males and females getting married through these rites belonged to the 20 to 24 year old age bracket. There were 792 males and 791 females married through tribal rites in this age group.
A total of 12 female children and zero males aged below 15 years old were married through tribal rites. This accounted for the second highest number of children under 15 years old married in 2020.
The data, the PSA said, is based on actual registration of marriages through Municipal Form 97. These forms are obtained from the Office of City and Municipal Registrars nationwide and submitted to the Office of the Civil Registrar general.