50 percent back divorce for irreconcilably separated – SWS

MANILA, Philippines — More Filipinos still support the legalization of divorce for irreconcilably separated couples, a survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.

The survey, conducted from March 21 to 25, found that 50 percent of the respondents support the statement, “married couples who have already separated and cannot reconcile anymore should be allowed to divorce so that they can get legally married again.”

The figure comprises 28 percent who “strongly agree” to the statement, and another 22 percent who said they “somewhat agree” to it.

Some 31 percent disagreed with the test statement while 17 percent were undecided.

According to SWS, the latest survey resulted in a net agreement score of +19, classified as “moderately strong.”

The net agreement score on the proposal to legalize divorce went down from “moderately strong” +27 in June 2023 (55 percent agree, 27 percent disagree, correctly rounded) and the record-high “very strong” +44 in March 2023 (65 percent agree, 21 percent disagree).

Among men, support for divorce was highest among those with live-in partners (58 percent agree, 19 percent disagree), followed by those who never married (52 percent agree, 32 percent disagree), single, widowed or separated (45 percent agree, 33 percent disagree) and married (45 percent agree, 36 percent disagree).

Women respondents with live-in partners also had the highest support for legalization of divorce (61 percent agree, 23 percent disagree), followed by those who never married (53 percent agree, 32 percent disagree), single, widowed or separated (52 percent agree, 29 percent disagree) and married (45 percent agree, 35 percent disagree).

Across areas, support for divorce was highest among respondents in Metro Manila (62 percent agree, 23 percent disagree), followed by those in the rest of Luzon (51 percent agree, 31 percent disagree), Visayas (48 percent agree, 28 percent disagree) and Mindanao (42 percent agree, 40 percent disagree).

The survey had 1,500 respondents and a margin of error of plus/minus 2.5 percent for national percentages.