The Philippines is struggling with a birth rate that is too high. Quality jobs and resources are limited, and the country’s rapidly growing population is seen as a drag on growth. This is in contrast to many other Asian countries메이저사이트, including South Korea, that are struggling with low birth rates.
The Philippines’ total fertility rate – the average number of children a woman is thought to have in her lifetime – was 1.9 last year, according to a Bloomberg report on July 7. That compares favorably with the world’s lowest rates in South Korea (0.78) and Japan (1.26), as well as other Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore (1.05) and Thailand (1.47). The gap is also wide with “population superpower” China (1.18).
While the Philippines’ birth rate last year was significantly lower than in 2020 (2.75), the government’s analysis suggests that this is likely a temporary blip in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. From 60.7 million in the 1990s, the population of the Philippines is now 113 million. By 2050, the Philippines will account for more than half of the world’s population growth, according to the United Nations.
Birth control is a major challenge for the Philippine government. The Philippines has implemented a number of policies to reduce the birth rate, including prioritizing family planning (contraception) in the government budget, distributing free contraceptives to the poor, and expanding sex education. However, in a country where more than 80% of the population is Catholic, there is a great deal of resistance to condoms, let alone abortion. Women in rural and impoverished areas have difficulty accessing contraceptives and contraceptive tools. Even local governments often ignore the government’s recommendations and do not allocate funds for birth control.
For South Korea, which is struggling with a low birthrate, the Philippines’ situation seems like a “happy medium. In general, a high birth rate leads to an increase in the labor force and stabilization of the domestic market, which contributes to economic growth. However, the Philippine government believes that too many people are actually hindering the country’s economic development.
The country’s resources are limited, and the population is growing rapidly while living standards are falling. In Manila, the capital of the Philippines, there are more than 70,000 people per square kilometer (km2). Even prisoners are housed at more than three times the capacity of the jails. The poorer people live in more densely populated areas.
“We’d rather suffer from low birth rates,” the Philippine government quips. Arsenio Balisacan, head of the Philippine National Economic and Development Authority, envies rich countries with low birthrates, saying, “Isn’t it relatively easy to solve the problem of low birthrates, because they can replace the labor shortage with technological development or accept immigration?”