About 240,000 Filipino youth are in living arrangements or cohabiting, according to a recent study conducted by the Commission on Population and Development (CPD) with the Asian Center of Education, Research, and Training for Innovation (ACERT).

"Most Filipino couples find cohabitation to be a more practical and beneficial arrangement in pursuing family and marital goals but consider marriage as an aspiration," CPD noted.

Moreover, the 2022 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) revealed that women aged 15 to 49 who are living together have gradually quadrupled within the span of three decades, from five percent in 1993 to 19 percent in 2022.

Further, the 2021 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study showed that about 12 percent of the 20 million youth aged 15 to 24 are living in or cohabiting.

Practicality

Most couples in living arrangements or cohabiting consider it a practical marital arrangement.

"Living together is considered a manifestation of the next step in a committed relationship while waiting for the proper time to get married," CPD noted, adding that the couples' parents prefer their children to cohabit, especially when they are still at a young age.

"Cohabitation is the practical means to morally and economically cope with unintended pregnancy. It is also more economically practical to raise a family," it continued.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the number of children born outside marriage is 842,728, compared to 605,794 births from couples in formal unions.

Relationship and family trauma

According to CPD, women in the study also shared that, more than practicality and convenience, couples decided to cohabit as a means of escaping past and prospective trauma involving relationships and families.

"Cohabitation allows them to find liberty in building relationships with a partner without the pressures and commitment of marriage," it said.

"For women who have had negative relationship experiences in the past, they are no longer interested in marriage, or they would only be interested in marrying when they are sure that the partner is fit for them and that they have gotten to know the partner," it added.

Cohabitation, CPD furthered, becomes an opportunity to get to know the partner in the household.

Other reasons cited for living arrangements or cohabiting are logistical difficulties, as some couples find the process of completing requirements and filing for a marriage certificate an arduous task.

"Working on the requirements meant that they had to be absent from work to request or file documents in government agencies, which they could not afford since absences mean a loss in income," CPD said.

"They would only find hope to marry in the future when finances are more stable and only through mass weddings," it added.

Social media influences, religion contradictions

Lastly, women in living arrangements or cohabiting shared that, after being exposed to social media messages showing the complexity of relationships and the difficulty of marriages, it becomes a cautionary tale for them.

In some cases, participants also expressed religious perspectives and their impact on their decision-making.

"Some participants recognize the value of marriage from a religious standpoint, given that the practice of marriage is an expression of faith and sacrament for some of them," CPD said.

"However, while the spiritual consideration is strong, social realities are stronger, and thus, they are motivated to cohabit instead," it added.