Pinays prefer ugly, rich husbands

MANILA, Philippines –  Looks are good but we need cash.

This seems to be true for a majority of Filipino women who prefer to marry for money rather than looks, according to a survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) released yesterday.

The pre-Valentine survey showed 51 percent of Filipino women wouldn’t mind marrying a rich but ugly man.

This means the remaining 46 percent would rather marry a good-looking guy even if he were poor.

The women answered the question, “If you were to choose one of the following two persons to be your lifetime partner, who would you pick: A person who is rich but ugly, or A person who is good-looking but poor.”

Only two percent of the women respondents did not answer the question.

For Filipino men, looks proved to be the more important factor. The same survey revealed 52 percent of Filipino men are more likely to choose a good-looking partner even if she is poor.

For Filipino women, financial stability was a more important consideration, with 57 percent saying they would pick a rich but ugly partner, as against the remaining 41 percent inclined to marry a poor but good-looking guy.

The same survey also revealed that 55 percent of Filipinos are “very happy” with their love life, while 34 percent said “it could be happier,” and 11 percent claimed they have no love life.

Among men, a majority of the respondents – 55 years old and above at 60 percent, 45-54 years old at 54 percent and 18-24 years of age at 56 percent – would choose a life partner who is good-looking but poor.

In contrast, 53 percent of the men aged 25-34 are more likely to choose a life partner who is rich but ugly.

Opinion is divided among men aged 34-44 or middle-aged, with 50 percent preferring someone rich but ugly and 49 percent good-looking but poor.

Among women, preference for a rich but ugly life partner is high across all age groups.

In particular, those who would choose someone rich but ugly is highest among women aged 15-24 at 71 percent, but the preference decreases as the age bracket goes up.

Women aged 25-34 had 61 percent and those among the 35-44 age bracket registered 57 percent preference, 51 percent among those 45-54, and 50 percent among those 55 and above.

By area, 55 percent in Metro Manila and another 55 percent in balance Luzon would choose someone rich but ugly for a life partner, in contrast to 56 percent in Mindanao who would choose someone good-looking but poor.

Opinion is divided in the Visayas region, with 50 percent who would choose someone rich but ugly and 49 percent who would choose someone good-looking but poor.

By socio-economic class, 57 percent of the middle-to-upper classes ABC and 52 percent of the “masa” or class D would prefer someone rich but ugly.

The very poor class E at 51 percent said they would choose a good-looking partner even if poor.

Happier in love

The SWS said there are more Filipinos who are happy with their love life in 2010 than in 2004 when the survey firm asked the same question.

The percentage of Filipinos who say their love life is very happy bounced back to 55 percent in 2010 after a decline to 46 percent in 2004, from a high of 58 percent in 2002 when the question was first asked, the SWS said.

On the other hand, those who say their love life could be happier declined to 34 percent in 2010, from 44 percent in 2004.

In 2002, 32 percent said their love life could be happier.

The number of those who said they have no love life was unchanged at 11 percent.

The survey also showed that married people have happier love life, with three out of five (64 percent) who are very happy with their love life as compared to 43 percent among those with a live-in partner, and 33 percent among those single without a spouse or a partner.

Fifty-five percent of those with live-in partners, on the other hand, say their love life could be happier as compared to 36 percent among those married, and 21 percent among those single.

About half or 45 percent of those single said they have no love life, only 0.4 percent among married people, and only one percent among those with live-in partners.

There are more single females at 53 percent compared to single males at 38 percent who say they have no love life.

The new poll likewise revealed that older people have happier love life than the young ones.

By age, only two out of five (44 percent) of the youth aged 18-24 are very happy with their love life, lower compared to most older people who are also very happy with their love life: 53 percent among those 25-34, 60 percent among those 35-44, 52 percent among those 45-54 and 59 percent among those 55 and above.

Notably, one out of four (26 percent) of the youth say they have no love life, higher than the older age groups.

The survey also showed that people from Visayas and Mindanao have happier love life than those in Luzon and Metro Manila.

About seven in 10 of those from Mindanao (71 percent) and Visayas (67 percent) say their love life is very happy, as compared to 57 percent in Metro Manila and 40 percent in balance Luzon.

Almost half (48 percent) of those in balance Luzon say their love life could be happier, as compared to 29 percent in Metro Manila, 22 percent in Visayas and 21 percent in Mindanao.

The SWS survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adult respondents in Metro Manila, the balance of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

They survey conducted from Nov. 27 to 30 last year had sampling error margins of plus or minus three percentage points for national percentages and plus or minus six percentage points for area percentages. –Helen Flores (The Philippine Star)