Work

Merry now, marry later? Initial labor market conditions and marital intentions in the Philippines

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Objective: Following the Oppenheimerian hypothesis that employment stability partly explains (earlier) marriage timing, particularly among career-oriented young adults, we test the relationship between precarious initial labor market conditions and marital intentions among the highly educated population in the Philippines. Background: A substantial body of literature suggests that early career employment instability is associated with family formation. The Philippines, as the only country besides the Vatican without a legal provision for divorce, presents a unique and novel context for analyzing both the institution of and preferences for marriage. Method: Using data from a nationally representative graduate tracer survey in the Philippines, we estimate the association between initial labor market conditions and marital intentions using inverse probability weighted (IPW) logistic regression models to account for selection into the never-married population upon completing higher education. Results: Our analysis highlights three findings. First, an overwhelming majority (95%) intend to get married across all labor market statuses, suggesting a near-universal idealization of marriage among highly educated young adults. Second, precarious labor market states are not associated with marital intentions except for economically inactive females. Finally, precarity matters for the expressed timing of marriage - compared to their stably employed counterparts, marriage-oriented young adults on fixed-term contracts, unemployment, or economic inactivity express a slightly later ideal period to marry. Conclusion: These descriptive findings speak to the idea that in societies where marriage is considered a near-universally ideal life course milestone, young adults in “merry” employment conditions intend to marry sooner rather than later.

Source: ePrints Soton (University of Southampton)

Authors: Ramos, Vincent Jerald, Vital, Marianne

Institutions: Hertie School, University of Oxford, University of Southampton

Language: English

Topic: Family Dynamics and Relationships

Subfield: Demography

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Decent work and economic growth

Open Access status: green

Funders: UK Research and Innovation, University of Southampton, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Economic and Social Research Council

Awards: G1852296374, GRK 2458: Die Dynamiken von Demographie, demokratischen Prozessen und Public Policies (DYNAMICS), HIGHLIGHT CPC- Connecting Generations Centre