I was disturbed by a recent article published in the New York Times which said that “married people will soon be the minority” in the United States. This observation was based on a study conducted by the Pew Research Center in the US, which showed “that in 2019 the share of American adults who were neither married nor living with a partner had risen to 38 percent.”

In 1970, the percentage of Americans between the ages of 25 and 50 who were never married was 9 percent. Two decades later, the number was close to 20 percent. Given this trend, it will not be remote when there will be more unmarried persons in the US in the near future. The same study further showed that African-American adults have the highest rate of unpartnered Americans at 59 percent, followed by Latinos at 38 percent and Whites at 33 percent. The Asians were lowest at 29 percent. I suppose that the last group consisting largely of immigrants from China, India and the Philippines still regard marriage as the bedrock of a family. Asians uphold family values and traditions and start a family through the institution of marriage. Without marriage, the union between a man and a woman is tenuous and is generally met with disapproval by society. Most of us grew up in a culture where getting married is one of the main purposes of life. One pursues education and engages in productive work to be able to find a suitable partner in life. Contracting a marriage is a life’s milestone, which a betrothed couple look forward to with much excitement, planning and elaborate ceremony. But it seems that time is past when marriage is the pinnacle of a woman’s dream and the crowning success of a man’s achievements. There’s now a legion of individuals shunning marriage and who would rather prefer the joys and uncomplicated life of single blessedness.  

I suspect that while there are no formal studies similar to the one conducted by the Pew Research Center in the US in most countries, the trend worldwide could be the same, although at varying degrees. Marriage is getting unpopular and the number of unmarried people around the world has been consistently increasing. In Europe, for instance, where the culture is pretty similar to the US, the latest statistics released in 2017 showed that 34 percent of households in the European Union comprised of single adults without children. This was higher than the 31 percent in 2010, or a gradual increase of 2.4 percent. These numbers are drawn from the EU Labor Force Surveys done in 2010 and 2017. The rates differ across the member-states of the EU. For 2017, the proportion of single person households was lowest in Malta with just under 20 percent and highest in Sweden with 51 percent. In Latvia, the rate sharply increased from 25 percent in 2010 to 35 percent in 2017.

While there are limited studies made on the subject, the number of single persons in Asia has been growing particularly in East and Southeast Asia, which include the Philippines. In India, a report showed that around 50.3 percent of its population never married. This is an enormous number given the size of India’s population. Only around 46.3 percent of the total population are married and obviously they are now in the minority. Based on the Sample Registration Survey Report 2018, “the highest number of single women living independently across India is in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.” The proportion of single women in these two provinces who live alone are twice as many as compared to the national average. It seems that the situation in China is even worse. According to Statista, a leading provider of market and consumer data around the world, as of June 2021, 55.6 percent of men and 39 percent of women are single in China. The huge gap between the two genders may be due to the imbalance of gender ratio in favor of male in the country. Its government may have adopted a policy which delays, if not forgoes marriage totally, to slow down its burgeoning population. But in countries with zero population growth like Singapore, the government offers incentives to encourage marriage and childbearing. They realize that ZPG creates less productivity when fewer working age people contribute to the economy.

In the Philippines, based on the 2015 Census of Population, there were 34.8 million single persons, or 44 percent of the total population 10 years old and over. Compared to a similar 2010 report that recorded 31.3 million single persons, the 2015 number is higher by 3.5 million. While the number has grown, the proportion to the total population of 10 years old and over of about 44 percent has remained practically the same since 2000. On the other hand, married persons comprised roughly 45 percent over the period 2000 to 2010 but reduced to 41 percent in 2015. Of the total unmarried population aged 20 and over, 54.1 percent are males and 45.9 percent are females. In other words, there are roughly 118 unmarried males for every 100 single females. No wonder, Filipinas can be choosy. But it seems that less and less Filipinos are entering into marriage and prefer to be uncommitted throughout their life.  

The numbers indicate that getting married is no longer on top of the bucket list of many individuals. It’s no longer the ideal pursued by most men and women. If a considerable number of our people remain single, this will have serious implications on government planning and programs. For instance, pension planning, housing policies, retirement facilities, health care and taxation which favors married individuals and taxpayers with families and dependents need to be revisited. Less people will need roomier housing accommodation, bigger cars, and pension providing benefits for dependents. From the private sector, insurance and health care products more suitable to single policy or plan holders will be more in demand. The rules on succession and estate planning may be restudied to take into account the ramifications of a decedent who dies without a spouse and/or immediate dependents. Without a family, hotels and restaurants will provide more single-bed rooms and tables for one to maximize their accommodations.

Certainly, there are advantages and disadvantages of getting married. Each side can justifiably cite cogent reasons to advance its position. However, statistics all over the world indubitably demonstrate that remaining single is gaining more adherents. It won’t be long before the bachelors and spinsters of the world can proudly proclaim: “Goodbye, I do!”



‘Goodbye, I do!’
Source: News Paper Radio