Young Adult Marriages: Filipino Culture of “Getting Married Early” and “Getting

Married Late”

Nuñez, Paula Jeanella O.

Almeida, Rosemarie Nicola
Banal, Glaisa Belen L.
Ingal, Alexis Joy L.

Abstract

Marriage is the process in which two individuals make their

relationship public, official, and permanent. It is joining of two
people in a bond that putatively lasts until death. The researchers
were eager to find out whether it is really an issue for Filipino
culture to get married at an early age or later age, whether it would
be a big deal for relatives or friends when you are not married
“yet” or if you are “already” married. The themes that were
acquired from early marriage are Advantages, Reason for
Marriage, Disadvantages and Compliance with Society. While in
late marriage it has same themes except for Advantages and an
addition of Instances prior to Marriage.
Keywords: marriage, Filipino culture, early age, later age

Marriage, as what Psychology Today (2017) says, is the process by which two people
make their relationship public, official, and permanent. It is the remarkable join of two
individuals in a bond that lasts until death. Young adulthood starts from about 19 to 30 years old
which was defined by Erik Erikson as the stage when a person must acquire the ability to fuse
that identity with the identity of another person while maintaining his or her sense of
individuality (Feist et.al, 2013). By definition, young adult marriage is when two 19 to 30 years
old people make their relationship lifelong which could join them in a bond or ceremony. This
research focuses on the marriages of young adults but mainly emphasizing the Filipino culture
and the overview of Filipinos about getting married earlier than 19 years old or later than 30
years old.
From the last generations, the marriage pattern is changing slowly. Now, the number of
marriages is lessening because of the paradigm shift in educational topic from boys to girls. In
the recent time, girls are becoming more educated (Abro et.al, 2017). Marrying late or early has
its own advantages and disadvantages. The health of a marriage doesn’t depend on the age that
the person got married but on the mindset of the person (Agarwal, 2017).
Findings by Ellison et. al. (2011) suggest that the family values and norms introduced
through religion may strengthen commitment to marriage as a subjective goal especially among
those who have direct experience growing up in a two-parent family—that is, those families
whom personal experience and religious values are broadly consistent.
Early marriages
Though marriage is increasingly postponed into the lifetime, it is still highly valued in
our society and the socialization around it takes place well before emerging adulthood. Thus, it is
not surprising that so many individuals began emerging adulthood with a desire for marriage and
long-term relationships. The new life experiences that some emerging adults sought and endured
during this time period led to new interests and goals with subsequent attitudes toward marriage
and long-term relationships that either supported or negated earlier socialization processes
(Hippen, 2016). Early marriage gives more time for men and women to pursue their career
comfortably and plan a child soon after (Dasgupta, 2013). According to Mckay & Mckay (2015),
once you hit age 25, divorce rates go down by almost 50%. Getting married early has pros of
daily habits will form together, small age gap from children, planning future together and there is
no pressure of having kids.

The cons will be lack of maturity, unstable financial support and twenties is a chance to
go crazy (Moustapha, 2016). It could be argued that the benefits of early marriage that children
living in the age and age is enough to help their parents until they are old and cannot fear them
from the pitfalls of old-time (UK Essays, 2015). One disadvantage of early marriage stated by
Waters (2017) is that younger people haven't had the opportunity to explore themselves much
beyond their families, or small groups of friends. As stated by Call (2013), the dating situations
or stage during emerging adulthood might take on an added measure of the seriousness of
emerging adults towards marriage.

Marriage is still highly valued in our society and the socialization around it takes place
well before emerging adulthood because it is increasingly on hold into the lifetime. Thus, it is not
surprising that so many individuals began emerging adulthood with a desire for marriage and
long-term relationships (Hippen, 2016). According to the findings of Johnson (2012), young
women were deeply concerned with the problem of infidelity and the risk of having STDs,
specifically AIDS, when questioned about their desire and opportunity to marry.

Late marriages
Recently, people are choosing to marry later in their life than past generation. The
average or ideal age range of couples is thirty to forty-two for the first-timers. A big difference
from just long time ago, when the average age span was in your twenties (Houghton, 2011). It's
not fear of commitment that keeps older couples from getting married, but it’s about financial
matter. They're afraid marriage will saddle them with higher health care costs, wipe out
retirement benefits, raise their taxes and disrupt estate plans (Block, 2015). A poll
by Gallup resulted in the concept of marriage is still important to young adults, but many of
them are waiting to get married for those reasons that include finding the appropriate
person, feeling ready/old enough, and being financially okay. The recent generation of  men
and women are much more concerned with establishing their own lives before sharing them
with a partner (Coulehan, 2016).
 You should be in a steady financial consistency even if you’re not so stable in your job,
you should have better judgment about things and maturity is important according to Levoy
(2015) so it’s better to get married later in life. From a survey of a Bridestory (2017) user, they
found out that couples in the Philippines get married relatively much later than couples in
Indonesia and Singapore. The average age of brides is 28–31 years old, while the grooms are
usually between 30–33 years old. Filipino couples also tend to go through longer engagement
periods, between one and two years, before starting their wedding planning. According to Belt
(2016), the findings in his research suggest that love identity formation in emerging adulthood
would give relevance to marriage as an important goal and that emerging adults with a more
achieved identity expected to marry later and placed less importance on marriage as a whole.

Specifically, emerging adults with higher financial status and who received more
financial assistance from parents were more likely to report not being ready for marriage. These
findings support the matter that finances significantly affect an emerging adult’s marital horizon.
Findings from this study would also suggest that even more important for emerging adults than
working and having a personal income is the attainment of education and career development
(Nelson, 2009).

Purpose of the Study

From the information gathered, different perspectives on the Filipino culture about
marriage were seen. The researchers were eager to find out whether it is really an issue for most
Filipinos to get married at an early age or the other way around, whether it would be a big deal
for relatives or friends when you are not married “yet” or if you are “already” married. This
study could help on the dilemma about this idea on marriage for both men and women, whether
age really does matter in leveling up the relationship of a couple. It’s important for the
researchers to gain knowledge on this because according to Abalos (2017), most Filipino married
couples resort to informal separation which resulted to the numbers of annulment and nullity
cases filed at the Office of the Solicitor-General (OSG) that increased from 4,520 in 2001 to
11,135 in 2014.

Framework of the Study

This study used phenomenology as a methodological framework because it involves a
process that aims for the reality in individuals’ stories of their lived experiences of situations
happened in their lives (Cilesiz, 2009) which is applicable for searching on the experiences of
couples who marry early and those who marry late. It also aims to understand Filipinos own
definition of “getting married early” and “getting married late.”

Research Questions

The study aims to answer the following:

 What are the lived experiences of those who marry early and those who marry late?
 What factors influence the decision to get married in Philippine society?
 How do the said factors influence the quality and dynamics of married life?
  How is marriage and married life viewed by married couples from a personal and
social context?

Method
Research Design
A descriptive phenomenological design was used. This research design aimed to break
down an individual’s experience with a phenomenon to a description of a universal essence
(Creswell, 2007). It was useful in gathering data like interviews of people that tells the
experienced phenomenon of Filipino married couples who married early or late.
With accordance to Husserl’s, researchers should set aside their beliefs about the
phenomenon or knowledge regarding the subject prior to avoid biases and influencing the study.
This method is known as bracketing. For instance, the researchers have presumed that the main
cause for early marriages is pregnancy. Moreover, the researchers expected that people who
married later in age is because they value their work the most. All the said biases were
disregarded before conducting the interview. Bracketing is used in a qualitative research to
lessen the potential effects of the perceptions of the authors onto the research process (Tufford &
Newman, 2012).
Participants
The study used one of the non-probability samplings which is the purposive sampling. A
purposive sampling is a sampling technique that is selected based on characteristics of a
population and the objective of the study (Crossman, 2017). The researchers made use of a
certain criteria that was used in choosing Filipino married couples who married early or late. The
criteria for the participants are as follows:

 Should be married and currently living together

 Lives in Pampanga
 18-24 years old (getting married early)
 25-30 years old (getting married late).

The chosen participants were nine couples with equal number of nine males and nine
females with ages 18 to 32 years. The average age of the male participants is 25, same with the
average age of the female participants. All of the participants belong in the middle class
socioeconomic status.

Data Analysis
Method Analysis as described by Kleiman (2004):
Interview contents should be read by the researchers twice or thrice to understand the
answers of the participants and to get the words or ideas that have connection of meanings to the
variables of the study. Words and ideas from the interview will be analyzed and divided
according to their similarities in meaning in order to classify them. Free imaginative variation
will be used to determine which of the meaningful words or ideas are essential for and are made
up of a fixed identity for the phenomena to be studied.
An expansion of the data will be made which includes descriptions of the essential
meaning that were described through free imaginative variation and the articulation of a structure
of the phenomenon that is obtained from those discovered essential meanings. The structure of
the phenomena is the major finding of any descriptive phenomenological inquiry. This structure
is based upon the essential meanings that are present in the descriptions of the participants and is
determined by the prior analysis and insights which were obtained from the process of free
imaginative variation.
In the next stage of analysis, the raw data descriptions are looked at again in order to
justify the articulation is of both the essential meanings and the general structure. Finally, once
the phenomenological analysis of the data is complete, there will then follow a critical analysis
of the work of the researcher.  This critical analysis will include verification that:
a) concrete, detailed descriptions have been obtained from the participants;
b) the phenomenological reduction has been maintained throughout the analysis;
c) essential meanings had been discovered;
d) a structure has been articulated;
e) the raw data has verified the results
The average time of all the interviews consists of 15 minutes ranging from 5 minutes to
23 minutes. There were a total of 91 significant statements acquired from the data coming from
the participants.
Results
 REASONS FOR MARRIAGE
These are some of the facts that explain why the couple decided to get married early or
late.
Romance
It is when two people show affection, attachment, and willingness to be committed to
each other.
“Siguro me-inlove kami parehu”
Couples’ Preference
When the couple settled to make their relationship official without considering the
perspective of other people or the society.
“Pepakasal kami, buri mi.”
“Matwa na kami, bisa nakeng miyasawa talaga.”
Early Pregnancy
This happens when the person conceives a child. In the study, it’s the most prominent
reason why people get married in an early life.
“napaaga kasi nga yun nauna yung baby”
Effective Relationship
The couple will have a successful relationship if they will build their marriage with
honesty and truth.
“Tiwala”
Security
Defined as having a stable job to provide for your family. It also refers when the
financial state of the family is protected.
“Atin kaming parehu obra.”
“palakihin ng hindi masyadong mahirapan”
“nag-strive lang ako ng nag-strive sa pagtatrabaho, pamamasada para makaraos at
makapag-ipon”
Tired
One of the participants have said that he had enough of his youth life that he came up to
the decision that he wants to settle down.
“nagsawa na ako sa kakabarkada”
Independence
It is when the two individuals decided to live on their own or without the help of their
families.
“Ala kepang anak, kinawani na kami”
Love
It is when two people show affection, attachment, and willingness to be committed to
each other.
“Metibe neman ing pamiyabe mi.”
Independence
It is when the two individuals decided to live on their own or without the help of their
families.
“Agad kaming kinawani keng pengari.”
 Fate
This takes place when the couple are meant to be together by the will of God and
nobody from the environment is against their decision to get married late.
“Will ni Lord na talagang late na kami mag-asawa.”
Sense of Responsibilities
It is when you have the enough knowledge to handle marriage.
“ iisipin nila ano ba yung disadvantage ng magiging action mo”
Pregnancy
Carrying a child can be one of the reasons for couples to marry each other.
“Kase I was actually pregnant.”
 ADVANTAGES
Benefits that the couple were able to acquire when they married early or late.
Companion
Occurs when people marries at an early age and later on, bear children that will
contribute in the family income.
“May katuwang na ako sa paghahanap buhay.”
Sense of Responsibilities
Couples who married early still make it to the point that they will help their parents in
any aspect specifically financial matters.
“Adyang pang maranun kaming mekisawa, sasawup kami.”
Future Outlook
Instances like this occurs when the couple already think of the possible scenarios that
might happen when they got married.
“maagang nakikita yung magiging takbo ng pamilya”
Wisdom
It pertains to those knowledge and experiences acquired by the couple when they enter
married life.
“Marami kaming matututunan”
 DISADVANTAGES
These pertains to the negative outcomes or the negative results of marrying early or late.
 Drawbacks
The downside of marrying early is you haven’t experience having group of friends. On
the other hand, couples who married late tend to experience challenges. For instance, instead
of relaxing they still need to provide for their children’s education.
“Yung hindi mo naranasan makipag barkada”
“Matanda na kayo pero nagpapaaral pa kayo.”
Regrets
This occurs when the couple did not finish their education so it became their challenge
in marriage because they had troubles in providing for their family. In addition, another
factor to be considered as a regret is when the couples didn’t meet earlier in life hence, they
married later.
“May pagsisisi ka kasi hindi ka nakatapos gannun.”
“Medyo late nga akong nag settle down.”
Suffering
When the couple are failing to cope up with the struggles of life and as married
individuals this happens.
“Mahirap nga yung buhay.”
Unprepared to Marriage
This sub-theme affects the decision to get married when people tend to have opinions
regarding the age of a person or the proper age to get married.
“Yung bata pa, nag-aasawa na.”
Disconnected
This happens when the couple and their children has a huge gap in their generation
which results to not being closer to one another.
“Generation ngayon masyado ng nagkakaroon ng malaking gap.”
Sudden decision
This happens when the couple did not thoroughly plan the marriage. One of the
participants had trouble planning things because they haven’t weighed the pros and cons of
their actions.
“Di talaga dumaan sa planning.”
 COMPLIANCE WITH SOCIETY
 These are the factors that couples based their decisions with accordance to the standards,
beliefs and practices in their society.
Social Norm
This pertains to the standards, opinions and practices of the society regarding either
getting married early or late.
“may batas tayo sa Philippines para maging legitimate yung baby kailangan, kailangan
syempre yung nanay at tatay kasal sila di ba”
“Pinilit lang ako nung mother ko na kailangan mag-asawa.”
Others’ opinions
The comments and beliefs of relatives, family, and people around you tend to affect the
decision of the couple on the issues of getting married.
“Masyado pang siyang bata”
“Hindi pa sya ganoon ka-stable sa job nya.”
 INSTANCES PRIOR TO MARRIAGE
These are the situations that may occur before getting married.
Uncertainty
Sometimes, it is inevitable for the couple to have some doubts whether they can
withstand their marriage.
“Ayoko pa. Kaya ba natin?”
Family as priority
This happens when couples focus first on helping their family to give back what their
parents did for them before getting married whether early or late
“Gusto ko tumulong muna sa kanila.”
Undeveloped decision
It happens when the couple have not thought about getting married before.
“Wala sa isip ko yan dati.”
Discussion
The study has delved into the experiences and perspectives of marriage among couples
who both married early or late and considering the views of the people around them. By utilizing
the descriptive research design of phenomenological study and as the framework of the study,
the research was able to have individual and social perspectives about the said topic.

It was significantly overviewed from the data acquired that couples, whether they married
early or late, still follow a designated norm in the Philippine society. This was relevant on
information from the study wherein the couples are pregnant (either early or late) and it is
required for them to get married as stated by their parents or other people. Certain statements
from others have an impact on the process of decision making of the couple to make their
relationship official.

Most of the participants mentioned that their own family became their priority in entering
married life. Even though they still want to finish schooling, they had to consider their finances.
This finding is the same with the article published by Dasgupta (2013) who mentioned that
education tends to take a back seat for couples planning to marry early as their focus has now
shifted to concerns such as financial stability and family planning. It was further stated that there
may be times whereas early marriage is a matter of choice or by force. This is true with some of
the participants as they have said that the wife is impregnated and that is why they have to get
married. Another study by Santhya et. al (2010) states that those couples who had married early
were less educated or didn’t have the chance to study than those couples who had married late.

Results in early marriages indicates that couples are mostly complying with the society’s
standards on marriage. Some participants stated that they are not yet ready to get married but
because early pregnancy, parents’ choice and other people’s comments, they are influenced or
forced to do so.

People surrounding some of the participants have commented about them marrying early.
For instance, one of the participants stated that “Ang iba nagsasabi sa’min na baka hindi namin
kayanin dahil, unang-una, ako, hindi ako nakatapos ng college”. The statement is supported by
McKay & McKay (2015) by saying that, those who marry young, really have a higher
probability of divorce, and this is likely because of the pressures of still being immature,
financial difficulty, and in the state of not that responsible yet of child-rearing. Another study
said that the benefits of early marriage that children living in the age and age is enough to help
their parents until they are old enough and cannot fear them from the problems or difficulties of
old age (UK Essays, 2015).

One of the participants said that she was not able to explore herself with friends.
According to Waters (2017), she acknowledged that one of the disadvantages of early marriage
is that they haven't had the chance to explore themselves in accordance with their families or
friends. Some discovery is needed about interests and goals to unfold a keen sense of self.

A participant mentioned that before she met her husband, she was already satisfied with
her life specifically of her work and that she has forgotten about marriage. However, she was
told by her mother to marry already because of her age. This is supported by an Asian research
paper by Jones (2010) which states that social and family norms have not yet adapted fully to the
much higher acceptance of remaining single into their 30s and 40s.

Block (2015) refers to older couple getting married as not fear of being committed but it
is the financial matter of married life that they worry about. Like what one of the participants
doubted if they can make it through. Maturity as a sense of responsibility was concluded by the
researchers because it entails how the couple would cope up with the challenges of married life
as mentioned by Levoy (2015), it is important to consider having better judgment and being
more mature so it’s better to get married later in life.

In accordance with the accumulated results, there are still factors from the society that a
late married couple considers such as the parents’ comments about the late age of their child,
other people’s opinions and their views on marriage affects their decision.

Same as the young married couple, late marriage still considers security, love,
independence, their own preference to marry and pregnancy whenever they decide to get
married. But, fate or the will of God was included with their reasons because it’s meant for them
to meet at a later time and end up being together.
Limitations
The researchers have identified limitations of the study. This includes not being able to
use extreme samples to emphasize the meaning of getting married early and getting married late,
having very short interviews with the participants and being not able to get participants from a
wide range of location in Pampanga.
Recommendations
The authors would like to recommend for the future researchers that they may include
extreme cases of early and late marriage. They could also include couples from a bigger range of
location in the Philippines and to have longer time duration of interviews with the participants.
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 Appendix

Interview Questions
1. What are certain reasons that made you decide to get married early or late?
 (For couples who got married early) Were there any negative or positive
comments from other people about you getting married earlier? What were the
comments?
 (For couples who got married late) Were there any negative or positive comments
from other people about you getting married later? What were the comments?

2. What were the specific factors (peer pressure, child-bearing, etc.) that the society
made you decide to get married early or late?
 How do these factors make your marriage stronger?
 How do these factors make your marriage weaker?

3. What can you say of the outcomes of marrying early or late based on your
personal thoughts?
 What are the advantages and disadvantages of marrying early or late in your
perspective?
 What are the advantages and disadvantages of marrying early or late in the
perspective of your significant others or the people around you? (If there were
comments coming from other people on the basis of your decision)

4. What made you, as a couple; independently decide to marry early or late or not
considering other people's opinions?
 If it is your personal decision to get married early or late, were there any regrets in
doing so?

5. In considering the opinions of the people around you (family, friends, and
relatives), did it influence you, as a couple, to decide whether to get married early or
late?
 How did these people made you come up to such decision?
 Were you pressured or forced to decide on either of the two?
o If yes, how?
Certification of Validators
 Couple # Reference No. Significant Statement Code or Meaning Category or Subtheme Major Theme
3 (Loloy&Lhet) A1 Yung panahon noon ay biglaan na lang customary practice social norms compliance with the society
A2 hindi naman kami ang nag-decide na magpakasal kundi mga magulang namin parents' decision social norms compliance with the society
A9 Ang iba nagsasabi sa’min na baka hindi namin kayanin dahil, unang-una, ako, hindi ako nakatapos ng college unable to finish studies regrets disadvantages
A11 masyado pa kaming bata. too young to marry unprepared for marriage disadvantages
A15 nag-strive lang ako ng nag-strive sa pagtatrabaho, pamamasada para makaraos at makapag-ipon working for the future security reasongs for marriage
A23 may katulong nako aide in family income companion advantages
A24 may katuwang nako sa paghahanap buhay supports in providing the family companion advantages
A26 maagang nakikita yung magiging takbo ng pamilya anticipations about the family future outlook advantages
A27 para hindi mahiya sa magiging biyenan showing respect to in laws social norms compliance with the society
A29 Kasi lalaki ako gender role social norms compliance with the society
A35 tanggap ng buong-buo accepted wholly social norms compliance with the society
4 (Rona&Chris) B6 nagmamahalan kami love romance reasongs for marriage
B8 Yung bata pa nag-asawa, ‘yun lang too young to marry unprepared for marriage disadvantages
B10 Iniisip nila, parang mga bata pa daw kami not yet capable to handle relationships unprepared for marriage compliance with the society
B11 ‘di raw magtatagal yung relasyon namin others' opinion social norms compliance with the society
B18 Yung hindi mo naranasang makipag-barkada unable to enjoy youth drawbacks disadvantages
B20 gusto ko na rin magka-sariling pamilya to settle down personal decision reasongs for marriage
B21 nagsawa nako sa kakabarkada have had enough with friends tired reasongs for marriage
B22 Oo, personal decision. personal decision couple's preference reasongs for marriage
B26 Hindi naman kasi hindi naman ako mabarkada e unable to explore self with friends drawbacks disadvantages
7 (JJ&Lovely) C6 May baby na kami expecting a baby early pregnancy reasongs for marriage
C7 mahirap nga yung buhay struggles in life suffering disadvantages
C11 personal na desisyon namin wants to get married personal decision reasongs for marriage
C12 Tiwala trust effective relationship reasongs for marriage
C15 may pagsisisi kasi hindi ka nakatapos ganun didn't finish school regrets disadvantages
C19 marami kang matututunan you learn a lot wisdom advantages
C21 yung pagaaral didn't finish school regrets disadvantages
C23 medyo mahirap yung buhay struggles in life suffering disadvantages
C24 Gusto talaga namin wants to get married personal decision reasongs for marriage
8 (John Paul & Kia)
D10 napaaga kasi nga yun nauna yung baby expecting a baby early pregnancy reasongs for marriage
D14 may batas tayo sa Philippines para maging legitimate yung baby kailangan, kailangan syempre yung nanay at tatay kasal sila di ba conforming to society rules social norms compliance with the society
D19 Masyado pang bata si Kia others' opinion others' opinion compliance with the society
D41 Kasabayan mo nagwowork supports in providing the family companion advantages
D54 mahirap ring adjustments adjustments drawbacks disadvantages
1 (Romy and Pasing)
E4 Siguro me-inlove kami parehu in love romance reasongs for marriage
E7 atin kaming parehu obra stable job security reasongs for marriage
E11 Kanita, ala noman pakyalam no one cared before social norms compliance with the society
E12 kanita reng tawu maranun lang makisawa customary practice social norms compliance with the society
E14 makisawa kong e meyari, alang malyari keng biye yu struggles in life suffering disadvantages
E33 Ali ya pa pakasal nung eya inlove ne in love romance reasongs for marriage
E36 Miras ke waring 52 years ne love romance reasongs for marriage
E50 Pepakasal kami, buri mi wants to get married personal decision reasongs for marriage
E52 agad kaming kinawani keng pengari separate from parents independence reasongs for marriage
E54 Ala kepang anak, kinawani na kami started living on their own independence reasongs for marriage
E60 Solid kami solid bond romance reasongs for marriage
E72 adyang pang maranun keng mekisawa, sasaup kami helping parents after mariage sense of responsibility advantages
 Couple # Reference No. Significant Statement Code or Meaning Category or Subtheme Major Theme
2 (Rex&Tisoy) F5 Matwa na kami, bisa nakeng miyasawa talaga personal decision couple's preference Reasons
F11 Pota tumwa kami, ala keng pamilya someone to care for us security Reasons
F13 Metibe neman ing pamiyabe mi. solid bond love Reasons
F15 magsettle wants to settle down independence Reasons
F16 Bakantang potang tumwa ka, ating manese keka someone to care for us security Reasons
F19 Wa, Personal yang desisyon personal decision couple's preference Reasons
F23 Deng pengari, minsan, matwa na kayu, pwede na kong makiyasawa wants to settle down independence Reasons
F24 , ali ko makisawa, ala kong pamilya, makalunus kayu naman, ada. assurance security Reasons
F25 Nung anak ko pa, atin siguradung bumawal pero potang miki-edad nakong makanyan, ala na. people's feedback views in marriage Compliance
5 (K&Marvin) G30 Di talaga dumaan dun sa planning unplanned sudden decision Disadvantages
G31 gusto ng family namin parent's decision social norms Compliance
G45 mga friend niya, yung mga biro-biro lang na ano na, nasasakal ka na friends comments others' opinion Compliance
G51 marriage really is not an easy thing, pero it’s worth it people's opinion in marriage views in marriage Compliance
G54 It was just a snap unplanned sudden decision Disadvantages
G55 Kase I was actually pregnant expecting a baby pregnancy Reasons
G98 matanda na kayo, nagpapaaral pa kayo. too old to provide schooling drawbacks Disadvantages
G100 medyo late nga akong nag settle down settled down late regrets Disadvantages
G108 generation ngayon masyado ng nagkakaroon ng malaking gap generation gap disconnected Disadvantages
G124 kase matured na kayo maturity sense of responsibility Reasons
G129 Stable na stable security Reasons
6 (Alex&Juliet) H4 kasi hindi tayo agad nag meet late encounter fate Reasons
H9 palakihin ng hindi masyadong mahirapan welfare of children security Reasons
H14 wala sa isip ko yan dati have not thought of it before undeveloped decision Instances prior
H16 nawili ako sa pagtatrabaho focus in working security Reasons
H62 “Ayoko pa, kaya ba natin?” dilemma uncertainty Instances prior
H75 hindi pa sya ganoon ka-stable sa job nya unstable in job others' opinion Compliance
H88 Parang tutol sila sa amin people are against the relationship others' opinion Compliance
H90 nag trigger sa akin na magsumikap pa ako perseverance to work harder security Reasons
H110 gusto ko tumulong muna sakanila wants to help family first family as priority Instances prior
H112 yung concentration ko sa trabaho focus in working security Reasons
H119 iisipin nila ano ba yung disadvantage ng magiging action mo consequences of action sense of responsibility Reasons
H125 naging maayos yung pagpapalaki sa mga anak success in rearing the children sense of responsibility Reasons
H125 nagkaroon nga ng spacing gap between children disconnected Disadvantages
H126 planado lahat everything is planned sense of responsibility Reasons
H144 kung ano parin naman yung gusto mo e personal decision couple's preference Reasons
H146 kapag matanda kana, naiisip mo agad yung advantage and disadvantage outcomes are weighed sense of responsibility Reasons
9 (Mario&Susan) I20 Hindi ko naman kaagad siya nakilala late encounter fate Reasons
I25 Pinilit lang ako nung mother ko na kailangan magasawa parent's decision social norms Compliance
I28 hindi agad nagka-anak had a hard time child bearing regrets Disadvantages
I34 will na ni Lord will of God fate Reasons
I40 yung mga anak namin dapat established na sila pero ito naguumpisa pa lang children are still young regrets Disadvantages
I43 nagpapaaral pa wala pang apong malaki still working for education of children regrets Disadvantages
I45 will ni Lord na talagang late na kami magasawa will of God fate Reasons
I47 by the grace of the Lord blessing fate Reasons
I73 pinagpray ko prayer fate Reasons