More Pinays prefer live-in arrangements
MORE Filipino women prefer live-in arrangements instead of marriage, a recent study of the Commission on Population and Development (CPD) showed. The CPD's study with the Asian Center of Education, Research, and Training for Innovation showed an increasing preference for live-in arrangements among Filipino women. "Most Filipino couples find cohabitation as [a] more practical and beneficial arrangement in pursuing family and marital goals but consider marriage as an aspiration," the CPD said. Results from the 2022 National Demographic and Health Survey found that women aged 15 to 49 who are living with their partners have gradually quadrupled within the span of three decades from 5 percent in 1993 to 19 percent in 2022. Also, the 2021 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality survey showed that about 12 percent of the 20 million youth aged 15 to 24 are living in or cohabiting. Based on the civil registry and data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the number of registered births declined by 7.8 percent in 2023 from its level in 2022. The number of children born outside marriage, meanwhile, is at 842,728, compared to 605,794 births from couples in a formal union, based on the 2023 National Convention on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics of the PSA. The CPD attributed the increase to several factors, including economic considerations and evolving social perceptions. The study found that many couples enter into cohabitation before marriage because they believe that living together is considered a manifestation of the next step of a committed relationship while waiting for the proper time to get married and the parents prefer their children to cohabit especially when they are still at a young age. They also believed that cohabitation is the practical means to morally and economically cope with unintended pregnancy. It is also viewed as being a more economically practical way to raise a family, alleviate negative relationships with parents, and a way for couples to deal with different religious beliefs. For men, cohabitation is viewed as the next stage in a relationship, while women tend to appreciate the romantic aspect of cohabitation. The parents of the couples support cohabitation especially when they are also in a similar set-up. More often than not, couples usually seek the blessing of their parents to cohabit, the CPD said. The study also revealed that when the women become pregnant, the couple is motivated to proceed to cohabitation as this would allow them to combine finances, share responsibilities, and continue the romantic relationship. However, cohabitation also results in more pregnancies and children, it added.
Tomas Kauer - Moderator 
MORE Filipino women prefer live-in arrangements instead of marriage, a recent study of the Commission on Population and Development (CPD) showed.
The CPD's study with the Asian Center of Education, Research, and Training for Innovation showed an increasing preference for live-in arrangements among Filipino women.
"Most Filipino couples find cohabitation as [a] more practical and beneficial arrangement in pursuing family and marital goals but consider marriage as an aspiration," the CPD said.
Results from the 2022 National Demographic and Health Survey found that women aged 15 to 49 who are living with their partners have gradually quadrupled within the span of three decades from 5 percent in 1993 to 19 percent in 2022.
Also, the 2021 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality survey showed that about 12 percent of the 20 million youth aged 15 to 24 are living in or cohabiting.
Based on the civil registry and data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the number of registered births declined by 7.8 percent in 2023 from its level in 2022.
The number of children born outside marriage, meanwhile, is at 842,728, compared to 605,794 births from couples in a formal union, based on the 2023 National Convention on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics of the PSA.
The CPD attributed the increase to several factors, including economic considerations and evolving social perceptions.
The study found that many couples enter into cohabitation before marriage because they believe that living together is considered a manifestation of the next step of a committed relationship while waiting for the proper time to get married and the parents prefer their children to cohabit especially when they are still at a young age.
They also believed that cohabitation is the practical means to morally and economically cope with unintended pregnancy. It is also viewed as being a more economically practical way to raise a family, alleviate negative relationships with parents, and a way for couples to deal with different religious beliefs.
For men, cohabitation is viewed as the next stage in a relationship, while women tend to appreciate the romantic aspect of cohabitation.
The parents of the couples support cohabitation especially when they are also in a similar set-up. More often than not, couples usually seek the blessing of their parents to cohabit, the CPD said.
The study also revealed that when the women become pregnant, the couple is motivated to proceed to cohabitation as this would allow them to combine finances, share responsibilities, and continue the romantic relationship.
However, cohabitation also results in more pregnancies and children, it added.
