How Filipinos’ views about marriage and weddings have changed over 20 years

Yonny and Almer Villalba were college classmates in San Pedro, Laguna, who “jived” a little too well. Before long, they were inseparable. By the time of their senior internship, they weren’t just worrying about grades, they were expecting. With graduation fast approaching and their conservative families closely watching, there was no space for hesitation. Before anyone could notice Yonny’s baby bump, they said “I do.”

Recently, the couple celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary — still bound by the same magnetic pull that started in that random classroom over two decades ago.

The marriage landscape in the country has experienced a quiet, gradual transformation since their time. As economic pressures and evolving social expectations changed, so did the numbers. Two decades of marriage data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reveal a stark decline in the number of couples getting married.

In 2004, there were 582,281 recorded marriages; by 2024, the latest data, that figure plummeted 36% to 371,825. This underscores a long-term shift and not just a temporary pandemic disruption. The 2024 figure is also down sharply from 414,213 in 2023, falling well below pre-pandemic levels that consistently exceeded an estimated average of 430,000 annually.

A 2025 research by Bernice Kuang, a demographic researcher at the University of Southhampton, offers an explanation. While individualistic values are rising, a strong child-centric perspective remains the core driver of domestic choices, she says in “Is marriage ‘just paper’? Why men and women choose cohabitation over marriage in the Philippines.” 

This child-centric focus plus a lack of divorce mechanism has transformed cohabitation into a strategic relationship test period. Kuang’s research suggests that Filipinos are increasingly using live-in arrangements as a safeguard against incompatibility in the long run. This shifts marriage from a social requirement to a delayed and often optional final step.

As a result, the data and study reveal a population where fewer couples marry, and do so later in life and increasingly outside traditional church ceremonies.

Cohabitation as relationship insurance

For Gen Z overseas Filipino worker Tasha Yalung, love bloomed thousands of kilometers away, while she was working as a flight attendant in the Middle East three years ago. What began as “fun-fun” with a chef evolved into a partnership built on transparency. In a foreign land, he became her home whenever she missed her family in the Philippines.

Unlike the social norms of previous generations, Yalung and her fiancé Kenneth Isla chose practicality over tradition by opting to live together and save for their future through “blood, sweat, and tears” first. They pooled their savings to pay for their rings and wedding down payments before the proposal took place.

Much like Yalung’s experience, Kuang’s female respondents specifically advised against “rushing” into marriage to avoid getting into a permanent, unhappy union.

This trend toward “testing” the relationship is altering the Filipino marriage timeline. Data from the PSA show that median age for brides has climbed to 28 years, with the largest group being the Gen Zs or those born between the mid-1990s to the 2010s.

Meanwhile, men’s median age for marriage is slightly higher at 30 years, with the most common age bracket being Millennials or those born between the 1980s to mid-1990s. Just two decades ago, these medians were notably younger at 24.7 and 27.4 years, respectively.

Yalung and her fiancé are younger than the median marrying age, but their path was defined by modern maturity. They are tying the knot this June on a beach south of the country.

A key driver of this delay, according to Kuang’s study, is lighter social expectations and evolving traditions. While marriage was once the mandatory response to a nonmarital pregnancy, it is now often viewed as a goal to be delayed until financial stability is reached. For many, cohabitation is no longer a “scandal” but a sensible start to a more committed relationship.

Despite the vast majority delaying marriage, the data still captures the extreme ends of the age spectrum. In 2024, the youngest recorded bride was 10 years old and the youngest groom was 14, both wed in traditional Muslim ceremonies. At the other extreme, 80-year-old and over brides and grooms reaching a few hundreds were recorded. (READ: Law banning child marriage in the Philippines now in full force)

Overall, the pattern points to delayed marriage among most Filipinos. They are choosing a legal union that is increasingly defined by personal choice and financial readiness rather than rigid tradition.

Religious weddings remain most common

Another Gen Z newlyweds, Khate and Paolo Espiritu, didn’t start with a frantic race to the altar either. Their story grew over eight years of shared dreams, built on a foundation of waiting for the right moment while saving for their future. The final push wasn’t traditional pressure, but a new adventure. The couple decided to migrate to Australia and wanted to ensure they would face their new life side-by-side.

At first, a simple civil wedding felt enough. They valued the life they were already building more than the ceremony itself. This is a sentiment echoed in Kuang’s research on Filipino relationships, where she found that modern couples now often prioritize other goals over religious rules.

However, when their parents offered support, their plan blossomed into a church wedding in a farm in Batangas in early January 2026. “Their support reminded us that we didn’t have to choose between practicality and our dream,” said Paolo. They married not just for the paperwork, but to celebrate a commitment they had already lived for nearly a decade.

The Espiritus’ choice of location and timing aligns with national trends. By marrying in Batangas, they contributed to the statistics of Region 4-A (Calabarzon), which continues to post the largest share of marriages in the country, followed by the National Capital Region (NCR) and Central Luzon. 
Their January ceremony also hit a seasonal peak. While February remains the busiest month due to Valentine’s Day mass weddings, December and January are the top choices for couples as these months coincide with the holidays when families gather and overseas Filipinos return home.

While the couple opted for a religious ceremony, they are a minority in a landscape dominated by civil rites. In 2024, 155,604 couples or about 42% were solemnized through civil ceremonies. Despite the Philippines remaining predominantly Roman Catholic (78.8% in the last census), civil weddings have been the most popular form of ceremony for two decades.

Kuang’s study suggests this isn’t necessarily a rejection of faith, but a move toward intentionality. Many women in her study noted it is “morally superior” to spend money on a child’s education or a family’s future than an expensive wedding. Furthermore, policy changes — such as allowing children of unmarried parents to use their father’s surname — have reduced the traditional necessity of marriage.

Despite the rise in cohabitation and non-traditional family arrangements, family policies in the Philippines remain largely structured around formal marriage, with fewer legal protections or benefits extended to children and partners outside of marriage.– Rappler.com