This study aims to examine the trends in non-marriage in the Philippines and identify the factors associated with this phenomenon. It will also assess trends in cohabitation in the country and its differentials by levels of education. Data are drawn from various censuses and national surveys. Results show a continuing increase in the proportion of Filipinos who are unmarried in their 40s, particularly men. The proportion of Filipinos who are living together or cohabiting has also increased over time, while the share of those who are formally married has declined. These changes are accompanied by more liberal attitudes toward marriage and cohabitation in the Philippines.
AbalosJ. B. (2014). Trends and determinants of age at union of men and women in the Philippines. Journal of Family Issues, 35(12), 1624–1641. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513x14538024
2.
AbalosJ. B. (2017). Divorce and separation in the Philippines: Trends and correlates. Demographic Research, 36(50), 1515–1548. https://doi.org/10.4054/demres.2017.36.50
3.
AbalosJ. B.SaitoY.CruzG. T.BoothH. (2018). Who cares? Provision of care and assistance among older persons in the Philippines. Journal of Aging and Health, 30(10), 1536–1555. https://doi.org/10.1177/0898264318799219
4.
BeckerG. S. (1991). A treatise on the family. Harvard University Press.
5.
Demographic Research and Development Foundation IncUniversity of the Philippines Population Institute. (2016). The 2013 young adult fertility and sexuality study in the Philippines. Demographic Research and Development Foundation, Inc. and University of the Philippines Population Institute.
6.
Domínguez-FolguerasM.Castro-MartínT. (2008). Women’s changing socioeconomic position and union formation in Spain and Portugal. Demographic Research, 19(41), 1513–1550. https://doi.org/10.4054/demres.2008.19.41
7.
DykstraP. A.PoortmanA.-R. (2010). Economic resources and remaining single: Trends over time. European Sociological Review, 26(3), 277–290. https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcp021
8.
EsteveA.LesthaegheR.QuilodránJ.López-GayA.López-ColásJ. (2016). The Expansion of Cohabitation in Mexico, 1930–2010: The Revenge of History? In EsteveA.LesthaegheR. J. (Eds.), Cohabitation and marriage in the Americas: Geo-historical legacies and new trends (pp. 133–156). Springer.
9.
FuwaM. (2010). Cohabitation and attitudes toward marriage. In SatoH.NagaiA.MiwaS. (Eds.), The barriers against marriage in Japan (pp. 77–126). Keiso Syobo.
10.
GultianoS.HindinM.UpadhyayU.ArmecinG. (2009). Marital status and psychological well-being of Filipino women. Philippine Population Review, 8(1), 17–33.
11.
HaerpferC.InglehartR.MorenoA.WelzelC.KizilovaK. J. D.-M.PuranenB. (eds.) (2022). World values survey: Round seven - country-pooled datafile version 4.0. Madrid, Spain & Vienna, Austria: JD Systems Institute & WVSA Secretariat. https://doi.org/10.14281/18241.18
12.
HsuT.-L.BarrettA. E. (2020). The association between marital status and psychological well-being: Variation across negative and positive dimensions. Journal of Family Issues, 41(11), 2179, 2202. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513x20910184
13.
InglehartR.HaerpferC.MorenoA.WelzelC.KizilovaK.Diez-MedranoJ.PuranenB. (eds.) (2014). World values survey: Round six - country-pooled datafile version. Madrid: JD Systems Institute. https://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSDocumentationWV6.jsp
14.
ISSP Research Group. (1997). International Social Survey Programme: Family and Changing Gender Roles II - ISSP 1994. GESIS Data Archive, Cologne. ZA2620 Data file Version 1.0.0. https://doi.org/10.4232/1.2620
15.
ISSP Research Group. (2013). International Social Survey Programme: Family and Changing Gender Roles III - ISSP 2002. GESIS Data Archive, Cologne. ZA3880 Data file Version 1.1.0.
16.
ISSP Research Group. (2016). International Social Survey Programme: Family and Changing Gender Roles IV - ISSP 2012. GESIS Data Archive, Cologne. ZA5900 Data file Version 4.0.0. https://doi.org/10.4232/1.12661
17.
JonesG. W. (2005). The “flight from marriage” in South-East and East Asia. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 36(1), 93–119. https://doi.org/10.3138/jcfs.36.1.93
18.
JonesG. (2011). Teenage marriage trends and issues in Insular Southeast. In JonesG. W.HullT. H.MohamadM. (Eds.), Changing marriage patterns in Southeast Asia: Economic and sociocultural dimensions (pp. 29–46). Routledge.
19.
JonesG. (2018). Changing marriage patterns in Asia. In ZhaoZ.HayesA. (Eds.), Routledge handbook of Asian demography (pp. 351–369). Routledge.
20.
JonesG. W.GubhajuB. (2009). Factors influencing changes in mean age at first marriage and proportions never marrying in the low-fertility countries of East and Southeast Asia. Asian Population Studies, 5(3), 237–265. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441730903351487
21.
JonesG. W.YanxiaZ.ZhiP. C. P. (2012). Understanding high levels of singlehood in Singapore. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 43(5), 731–750. https://doi.org/10.3138/jcfs.43.5.731
22.
KabamalanM. M. (2004). New path to marriage: The significance of increasing cohabitation in the Philippines. Philippine Population Review, 3, 111–129.
23.
KabamalanM. M. (2011). Cohabitation and poverty in the Philippines. In JonesG. W.HullT. H.MohamadM. (Eds.), Changing marriage patterns in Southeast Asia: Economic and sociocultural dimensions (pp. 205–217). Routledge.
24.
KiernanK. (2000). European perspectives on union formation. In WaiteL.BachrachC.HindinM.ThomsonE.ThorntonA. (Eds.), The ties that bind: Perspectives on marriage and cohabitation (pp. 40–58). Aldine de Gruyter.
25.
KuangB.Perelli-HarrisB.PadmadasS. (2019). The unexpected rise of cohabitation in the Philippines: evidence of socioeconomic disadvantage or a second demographic transition?Asian Population Studies. 15(1), 8, 27. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441730.2018.1560664
MedinaB. (2015). The Filipino family (3rd ed.). University of the Philippines Press.
28.
National Statistics Office [NSO], & ICF Macro. (2009). Philippine National Demographic and Health Survey 2008. NSO & ICF Macro.
29.
National Statistics Office [NSO], & Macro International Inc. [MI]. (1994). National Demographic Survey 1993. NSO and MI.
30.
National Statistics Office [NSO], Department of Health [DOH] [Philippines] and Macro International Inc. [MI]. (1999). National Demographic and Health Survey 1998. NSO and MI.
31.
National Statistics Office [NSO] [Philippines], and ORC Macro. (2004). National Demographic and Health Survey 2003. NSO and ORC Macro.
32.
NemotoK.FuwaM.IshiguroK. (2012). Never-married employed men’s gender beliefs and ambivalence toward matrimony in Japan. Journal of Family Issues, 34(12), 1673–1695. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513x12462573
33.
OgenaN.KabamalanM. M.SasotaR. (2008). Changing patterns and correlates of marriage in the Philippines 8th International Conference on Philippine Studies, Philippine Social Science Center, Quezon City, Philippines.
34.
OppenheimerV. K. (1994). Women's rising employment and the future of the family in industrial societies. Population and Development Review, 20(2), 293–342. https://doi.org/10.2307/2137521
35.
Philippine Statistics Authority. (2017). 2015 census of population, report No. 2 – demographic and socioeconomic Characteristics: Philippines. Philippine Statistics Authority.
Philippine Statistics Authority [PSA], & ICF. (2018). Philippines National Demographic and Health Survey 2017. PSA and ICF.
38.
Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), & ICF International. (2014). Philippines National Demographic and Health Survey 2013. PSA and ICF International.
39.
QianY.QianZ. (2014). The gender divide in urban China: Singlehood and assortative mating by age and education. Demographic Research, 31, 1337–1364. https://doi.org/10.4054/demres.2014.31.45
40.
RaleyR.K. (2000). Recent trends and differentials in marriage and cohabitation: The United States. In WaiteL.BachrachC.HindinM.ThomsonE.ThorntonA. (Eds.), The ties that bind: Perspectives on marriage and cohabitation (pp. 19–39). Aldine de Gruyter.
41.
SasslerS.GoldscheiderF. (2004). Revisiting Jane Austen’s theory of marriage timing: Changes in union formation among American men in the late 20th century. Journal of Family Issues, 25(2), 139–166. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513x03257708
42.
SimonR.W. (2002). Revisiting the relationships among gender, marital status, and mental health. American Journal of Sociology, 107(4), 1065–1096.
43.
SitumorangA. (2007). Staying single in a married world: Never-married women in Yogyakarta and Medan. Asian Population Studies, 3(3), 287–304. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441730701746433
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. (2019). World Marriage Data 2019 (POP/DB/Marr/Rev2019). United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division.
46.
United Nations Statistics Division. (2023). Population by marital status, age, sex and urban/rural residence. United Nations Statistics Division.
47.
VancioJ. A. (1980). The realities of marriage of urban Filipino women. Philippine Studies, 28(1), 5–20.
48.
WiikK. A.DommermuthL. (2014). Who remains unpartnered by mid-life in Norway? Differentials by gender and education. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 45(3), 405–424. https://doi.org/10.3138/jcfs.45.3.405
49.
WilliamsL. (2009). Attitudes toward marriage in northern Vietnam: what qualitative data reveal about variations across gender, generation, and geography. Journal of Population Research, 26(4), 285–304. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12546-010-9024-3
50.
WilliamsL.ArguillasM. J. (2012). Correlates of non-marriage in the Philippines. Philippine Population Review, 11(1), 1–25.
51.
WilliamsL.GuestM. P. (2005). Attitudes toward marriage among the urban middle-class in Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines. Journal of Comparative Family Studies36(2), 163–186. https://doi.org/10.3138/jcfs.36.2.163
52.
WilliamsL.GuestP.VarangratA. (2006a). Early 40s and still unmarried: A continuing trend in Thailand. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 47(2), 83–116. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020715206065379
53.
WilliamsL.KabamalanM. M.OgenaN. B. (2006b, March 30‒April 1, 2006). Attitudes toward marriage in the Philippines Population Association of America Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA.
54.
WilliamsL.KabamalanM.OgenaN. (2007). Cohabitation in the Philippines: Attitudes and behaviors among young women and men. Journal of Marriage and Family, 69(5), 1244–1256. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2007.00444.x
55.
XenosP. (1997). Survey sheds new light on marriage and sexuality in the Philippines. East West Center, Program on Population (Asia Pacific Population and Policy Paper, No.42).
56.
XenosP.GultianoS. (1992). Trends in female and male at marriage and celibacy in Asia. East-West Center Program on Population.
57.
XenosP.KabamalanM. M. (2007). Emerging forms of union formation in the Philippines Assessing levels and social distributions. Asian Population Studies, 3(3), 263–286. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441730701746417.
58.
YeungW.-J. J. (2022). Demographic and Family Transition in Southeast Asia. Springer Nature.
59.
YeungW.-J. J.HuS. (2016). Paradox in marriage values and behavior in contemporary China. Chinese Journal of Sociology, 2(3), 447–476. https://doi.org/10.1177/2057150x16659019
60.
YoshidaA. (2011). No chance for romance: Corporate culture, gendered work, and increased singlehood in Japan. Contemporary Japan, 23(2), 213–234. https://doi.org/10.1515/cj.2011.011
61.
ZimmermannA. C.EasterlinR. A. (2006). Happily ever after? Cohabitation, marriage, divorce, and happiness in Germany. Population and Development Review, 32(3), 511–528. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2006.00135.x
