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MANILA, Philippines — The number of common-law or live-in couples in the country rose to 12.66 million between 2015 and 2020, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Friday.
According to PSA’s 2020 Census of Population and Housing, 14.7 percent of the 86.33 million individuals aged 10 and above in 2020 were in common-law relationships – an increase from 2015’s 9.2 percent or 7.24 million.
“Number of married persons increases by 1.52 million from 32.35 million in 2015 to 33.87 million in 2020, while couples in common-law or live-in marital arrangements increase by 5.5 percentage points,” it explained.
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Slightly more females were in such arrangements at 14.7 percent as opposed to 14.6 percent of males, it also noted.
According to PSA, common-law marital arrangements and divorced, separated, or annulled setups are most prevalent in Metro Manila.
In a 2022 Radyo Veritas survey, 45 percent of Catholic respondents believe marriage is unnecessary before couples can live together, while 40 percent see the significance of marriage before cohabitation.
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