Fewer Pinoys getting married

The number of Filipinos shying away from saying “till death do as part” rose between 1980 and 2000, according to the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB).

In its Statistically Speaking column titled “Love Affairs,” Romulo Virola, NSCB secretary general, said that between 1980 and 2000, the proportion of married persons dropped by about 5-percentage points.

Virola added less than half of the population is married.

He explained that in 2008, women aged 15 to 49 who were married stood at 50.7 percent, which is a drop from the 54.4 percent in 1993.

“With the drop felt across all age groups. Has love become more expensive?” Virola asked.

While the number of married couples is decreasing, Virola noted that the proportion of those living together grew in number between 1993 and 2008.

He said that from five out of 100 in 1993, the number of couples living together increased to 11 out of 100 in 2008.

Virola added that the number of divorced and separated Pinoys doubled between 1980 and 2000.

The NSCB official also said that there are relatively more men who are single than women who were not yet married.

“A case of many men being torpe or of women not knowing how to get their men?” he asked.

Virola, however, said that the median age of women during their first marriage has gone up from 22.3 years old in 1993 to 23.2 years old in 2008 for urban women, and from 20.7 years old in 1993 to 21 years old in 2008 for rural women.

“But still very young by Commission on Population standards, I am sure. On the average, women in the rural areas marry at least one year earlier than women in urban areas,” he said. –DARWIN G. AMOJELAR, Senior Reporter, Manila Times