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Marriage: Philippines 2011Reference Number:
2013-29
Release Date:
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
There were 476,408 marriages registered
in 2011 showing a decline of 1.3 percent from the previous year’s figure
of 482,480. Since 2009, the number of registered marriages in the
country has been declining.
The biggest decrease in the number of
recorded marriages was in Eastern Visayas (Region VIII) at 18.8 percent.
This was followed by Bicol and Caraga Regions with 9.2 and 7.9 percent
decrease, respectively. On the other hand, number of marriages in ARMM
increased by 79.7 percent compared with the previous year.
February is the favorite month for wedding
With a daily average of 1,799 marriages,
February remained the favorite month for couples to tie the knot.
However, the highest number of marriage occurred in the month of May
with 55,529 or 11.7 percent of the total. April managed to rank fifth in
2011, with a daily average of 1,496 marriages, despite ranking first in
2010. August remained the least favored month for marriage as it
accounted for only 24,763 marriages or a daily average of 799.
Women prefer to marry at an earlier age than men
There was a disparity between men and
women when it comes to marrying age. The median age for brides was 25.3
while 28.0 for grooms showing that women prefer to marry at an earlier
age than men. The highest number of brides who got married was seen at
age group 20-24, while for grooms it was in age group 25-29.
It was observed that marriage involving
teenage brides (58,320 or 12.2%) was more than four times compared to
those with teenage grooms (12,882 or 2.7%). There were also registered
marriages with grooms 50 years and older. Number of men who settled down
at age 50 and over (16,585 or 3.5%) was more than twice that of women
(7,012 or 1.5%) of the same age group.
Four out of ten marriages are contracted through civil rites
Marriage ceremonies performed through
civil rites reportedly got the highest proportion among all types of
marriage ceremony. Civil marriages accounted for 202,614 or 42.5
percent of the total marriages. Roman Catholicism, being one of the
most influential religions in the country remained to be the second in
the list with recorded marriages of 171,046 or 35.9 percent of the total
marriages. Marriages contracted through other religious rites
including Muslim accounted for about 20.8 percent while there were 3,167
marriages solemnized under tribal rites.
(Sgd) CARMELITA N. ERICTA
Administrator |
I read an article by Evelyn M. Duvall, "Mature enough to Marry" She gave the reasons for why the increase in young marriages?
The first, and very possibly the most important, social reason is the relative affluence of Americans. There's a very close relationship between economic prosperity and young age at marriage.
A second point of very real importance that is not widely recognized is that parents today are more able and more willing to help the young couple in many substantial ways.
In the third place, in times of wartime economy and of general "floating anxiety," as the psychiatrists put it, marriage rates and young marriage increase.
Fourth is the increase amount of early dating, going steady at earlier ages. Courtship proceeds at a faster pace and at earlier ages than was the case a few generations ago.
Fifth, many of our young marriage are being forced by pregnancy. There has been a very obvious increase in the number of these premarital pregnancies.
Sixth is the idealization of marriage as a desirable adult status. Marriage is a kind of instant status for a youngster who is discouraged in other areas. One of the reasons why some of these very young marriage work out so badly is that the very people who are least prepared for marriage are those who plunge into marriage most precipitately.
Seventh, the increase in young marriage is very definitely related to the increase in the number of unhappy homes, schools, and communities. Children from unhappy homes marry at younger ages than those from happier home situations.
Eighth is the chain-reaction effect of young marriage encouraging more young marriage within a given community.
Why be concerned about young marriage? First of all, because of its human development hazards.
There seems to be little question but that early intimacy and early domesticity among teen-agers curtails the development of full personality potential. The individual becomes preoccupied in the creative and procreative aspects of life which all of us know have such terrific drive and central force. Therefore, that individual does not get the time or the chance to dream, to travel, to explore and to find out what the world is made of and know the kinds of people and the forces and attitudes and points of view that are as a full-fledged individual to the place of developing the very complex, intricate, marvelous capacity to love in its fullest sense.
This is the reason why young marriages should not be recommended in our society. But there is another reason too. This is that young marriages do break up in large numbers. All studies to date conclude that young marriage are not as stable as those of more mature persons.
Why are young marriage so unstable? Because marriage is not child's play. It requires a very complex ability to carry responsibility and to settle down as a mature enough person to found a family. Young marriage is very frequently a lunge toward independence and freedom from control. Therefore, it tends to take place most frequently among the most rebellious, the most most anarchistic, the least well-adjusted young people. "You can't push me around; I'll get married and show you I can run my own life" kind of attitude is adolescent rebellion at its most immature form.
The young married are often emotionally immature even though they may be sexually sophisticated. Less emotional maturity is related significantly, clinically, and statistically, to sexual irresponsibility, promiscuity, and general sophistication sexually.
Why are young marriages unsuccessful in terms of both permanence and happiness? Because young people have less opportunity to prepare themselves specifically for marriage and family, less opportunity to find out what marriage is all about, less opportunity to understand themselves and what it means to become a husband or wife, a mother or father, less opportunity to learn anything at all about what it is going to mean to become parents.
These youngsters oftentimes recognize all too late that the problems of marriage are way beyond their anticipations. What are the pressures and problems of young marriages?
First of all are the economic problems and pressures. They have less money, more unemployment, less of an educational base, and the wife is poorly prepared to help. About all she can do is get a job as a waitress, or pounding somebody's typewriter, or other more or less dead-end jobs.
A second pressure of these young marriages is that of housing. A large number of these young couples live with their folks even though our culture says "no roof is big enough for two families." This is a very real problem, and it may be a real disappointment.
Young marriages have in-law problems. They have three times as many in-law problems as we find among more mature couples. Why? Because parents ore frequently disapprove of the young marriage and, therefore, are on the lookout for trouble. Annoyance and disappointment on the part of parents increase the concern from the parents' point of view which the young people, in turn, interpret as interference.
Another hazard is the social pressures. Young husbands run around much more than do more mature men. "He is out bowling with the boys." "He is still chasing around" is the kind of complaint that very frequently comes from the young wife.
The young mother oftentimes finds that the constant care of a baby ties her down. Here the girl is stuck twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, with an irresponsible husband who is of goodness knows where; so she parks he baby any place she can and tears off whenever possible.Irresponsible, sure, because she is not ready for this kind of responsibility.
What do we mean - mature enough to marry?
First of all, mature enough to have established a sense of personal identity, to have discovered one's self and to have developed a direction for one's life that offers promise for he future.
Second, mature enough to be ready to settle down with one person exclusively, with responsibility.
Third, grown up enough to have outgrown childish dependence upon parents or adolescent independence thrusts to the place where one is ready for interdependence with husband or wife.
Fourth, a person is mature enough to marry when he or she is ready to love and to be loved deeply and fully as a whole person. The kind of love that takes time to mature does not blossom overnight, even in relationships between mature persons.
Fifth, education sufficient for a full life as a man or woman both in and outside the home. There should have been enough education before marriage to kindle the love of learning in both of the pair so they will both keep on with their education afterwards.
It is this love for growth that probably more than anything else is a measure of maturity. Education is important for a full life. So we advise youth-prepare for what marriage involves. Become ready to assume the rules and even enjoy the privileges of marriage. Know what it means to become a husband, what it means to become a wife. Learn what will be expected and enough of the skills to carry on some competence as a married partner, as a parent, as a householder, as a homemaker.
Those of us who have anything to do with children in the full twenty years of the first two decades of life need to constantly recognize that more important than preaching, more important than scolding, more important than reminding is encouraging young people to develop those facets of themselves that have promise. As we can show a youngster from the very earliest days our pleasure, our pride, our admiration for something that he is or does is capable of, we inspire him to continue growing. When we whittle down or nag too loudly, too frequently - all we do is increase the sense of guilt and shame and disappointment and self-abasement that is not in the line of growth.
The security of the future lies in the kind of families that we are developing now.
