4 of 10 Pinoys never married, live-ins increased – PSA

MANILA, Philippines — Four out of 10 persons in the country were never married, based on the 2020 Census of Population and Housing conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Of the 86.33 million Filipinos age 10 and older in 2020, the PSA said 34.26 million or 39.7 percent were never married.

This is lower than the 34.54 million or 43.8 percent who were single or never married in 2015.

Meanwhile, 39.2 percent or 33.87 million persons were married in 2020. This is higher than the 32.35 million married individuals in 2015.

Those in common-law or live-in arrangements were at 14.7 percent or 12.66 million in 2020, up from the 9.2 percent or 7.24 million in 2015.

The PSA said the same trend was observed for those divorced or separated or annulled, which was at 1.9 percent in 2020, up from 1.5 percent in 2015.

On the other hand, the percentage of widows remained the same in 2015 and 2020 at 4.5 percent.

The PSA said there are more males among those who are single or never married at 54.1 percent in 2020 than females at 45.9 percent.

There were also more males among married persons in 2020 at 50.1 percent than females at 49.9 percent.

The same trend was seen among those in common-law or live-in arrangements, with males accounting for 50.2 percent and females with 49.8 percent.

By region, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) had the highest proportion of single or those who were never married at 50.5 percent, while Cagayan Valley had the lowest proportion of single or never married individuals at 36.7 percent.

Cagayan Valley had the highest proportion of married individuals with 47.6 percent, while Eastern Visayas had the lowest proportion of those married at 34.2 percent.

In terms of common-law or live-in arrangements, the National Capital Region (NCR) had the highest proportion at 20.1 percent, while BARMM had the lowest at 0.8 percent.

NCR also had the highest prevalence of divorced or separated or annulled individuals at 2.6 percent.

The Ilocos region had the highest proportion of widowed persons at 5.5 percent, while BARMM had the lowest with 3.2 percent.

In terms of the age of those married, the PSA said 61 percent were 30 to 54 years old.

Broken down, 13.2 percent of married individuals belong to the 40 to 44 years old age group, while 13.1 percent are 35 to 39 years old, 12.1 percent are 30 to 34 years old, 11.9 percent are 45 to 49 years old and 10.7 percent are 50 to 54 years old.

Among the age groups of individuals in common-law or live-in arrangements, the highest proportion was reported in the 25 to 29 years old age group at 20.8 percent.