4 out of 10 persons were never married — PSA

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Friday said four out of 10 persons in the country were never married, citing its 2020 Census of Population and Housing (2020 CPH).

Four out of 10 persons were never married, according to the PSA’s 2020 Census of Population and Housing. pic.twitter.com/ytWC6Kj4Zp

— Ted Cordero (@Ted_Cordero) February 17, 2023

Based on the 2020 CPH, the PSA said the Philippines had a household population of 108,667,043 persons.

“Of this total, the household population 10 years old and over comprised 79.4% or 86,333,513 persons,” it said.

Of the said 86.33 million persons aged 10 years and above in 2020, 34.26 million persons or 39.7% or a ratio of four out of 10 were never married, while 33.87 million persons or 39.2% were married.

Asked why 10 years old was the base age for determining marital status of the population, PSA chief and National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa told GMA News Online that “based on VSR (Vitals Statistics Report) 2020 the earliest age of bride and groom is 13 years both… Data showing as early as 12 years old [for getting married].”

The VSR is a yearly report on vital events like births, deaths, and marriages occurring in the Philippines. The VSR highlights data on the number and percent distribution of these events - by month of occurrence, age, sex, and region, province, or city.

The PSA said the rest of the population was categorized as follows —in common-law or live-in marital arrangement at 14.7%, widowed at 4.5%, and divorced/separated/annulled at 1.9%.

Despite the higher percentage of single persons, the number of married persons increased by 1.52 million from 32.5 million in 2015 to 33.87 million in 2020.

Among married persons, 61% were aged 30-54 years, broken down with the following age groups —40-44 years at 13.2%, 35-39 years at 13.1%, 30-34 years at 12.1%, 45-49 years at 11.9%, and 50-54 years at 10.7%.

Among married males, the highest proportion was reported in the age group 40-44 years at 6.7%.

Married females had a higher proportion among age group 35-39 years at 6.6%.

Meanwhile, single or never-married persons declined by 4.1 percentage points in 2020 from 43.8% in 2015.

Among the never-married persons, a higher proportion of males at 54.1% were reported in 2020, according to the PSA.

Individuals in common-law or live-in arrangements increased to 14.7% in 2020 from 9.2% in 2015.

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

The same distribution was reported among males and females with 10.4% each.

The PSA said an uptrend was observed among those divorced/separated/annulled, registering 1.9% in 2020 from 1.5% in 2015.

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

In terms of distribution by sex, 42.7% of households were composed of single men, while 36.7% were composed of single women.

The PSA said 39% of males and 39.4% of females were married.

Similarly, 14.6% of males and 14.7% of females were in common-law or live-in marital arrangements.

The remaining percentage was distributed between divorced and widowed, reaching 1.5% for divorced/separated/annulled males and 2.3% for their female counterparts.

The percentage of widowed males and females was 2.1% and 6.9%, respectively.

Among the never-married or single persons, a higher proportion of males at 54.1% were reported in 2020, according to the PSA.

The same trend was observed among married persons and those in common-law or live-in marital arrangements with 50.1% and 50.2%, respectively.

The proportion of females was higher than males among the widowed at 76.0% and divorced/separated/annulled at 60.1%.

By region, the proportion of single or never-married individuals was highest in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) at 50.5%.

This was followed by Region V-Bicol with 42.7% and Region IX-Zamboanga Peninsula with 41%.

Meanwhile, Region II- Cagayan Valley posted the lowest proportion of never-married individuals at 36.7%.

Region II posted the highest proportion of married persons with 47.6%.

This was followed by Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) with 44.9%, Region XII–SOCCSKSARGEN with 44.3%, BARMM with 44.2%, and Region IX with 41.5%.

The lowest proportion of married persons, on the other hand, was observed in Region VIII-Eastern Visayas at 34.2%.

The PSA said the proportion of persons in common-law or live-in marital arrangements was highest in the National Capital Region (NCR) at 20.1%, followed by Region VIII at 18.7%, and Region IV-A-CALABARZON at 17.6%.

The lowest proportion was in BARMM with 0.8%.

The prevalence of divorced/separated/annulled individuals was highest in the NCR at 2.6%, according to the PSA.

The proportion of widowed persons was highest in Region I-Ilocos Region, at 5.5%, followed by Region II and Region VI-Western Visayas with 5.2% each.

The lowest proportion of widowed persons was in BARMM with 3.2%.

“The statistics presented in this report were based on the information provided by the respondent or any responsible household member who answered the questions and gave correct information about all the household members,” the PSA said.

In the 2020 CPH, the statistics agency said the data on the marital status of every household member 10 years old and over were collected by asking the respondents, “Is _____ single, married, common-law/live-in, widowed, or divorced/separated/annulled?”—AOL, GMA Integrated News