THE high fertility levels in the past two decades could give rise to “a lost generation,” especially if the educational and nutritional needs of the so-called lockdown generation are not augmented, according to the Commission on Population and Development (Popcom).
Popcom Executive Director Juan A. Perez III said the lockdown generation is composed of 5 to 19 year olds who have been stuck at home while attending remote classes.
The zero to 4 year olds, particularly the zero to 2 year olds, though not yet in school, may have suffered from poor nutrition brought by poverty that could prevent them from reaching their full potential as workers.
“The high fertility levels of the last two decades were projected to create a bulge of young people entering the workforce up to 2035. This could prove to be a boon for the country if they become effective workers, or a lost generation if they are not employed or are underemployed, which will create a socioeconomic burden for a smaller, employed population,” Perez said in a statement.
Popcom estimated that the percentage share of Filipino children under 5 is now down to 10.2 percent in 2020 from 10.8 percent in 2015, and 12.6 percent in 2000.
In the last two decades, the percentage in the population of Filipinos under 15 has dropped from a 37-percent share in 2000 to 30.7 percent in 2020.
Unrest, instability
MEANWHILE, the median age of Filipinos also went up to 25.3 years old, from 23.3 years old in 2010, continuing a 30-year trend of increasing median age of Filipinos, according to PSA.
“The bane of social unrest and instability will result from increasing poverty in the general population and joblessness among the young Filipinos,” Perez said.
“The bane will even get worse if we keep growing our pop at the rate of 1.6 percent, which was seen pre-Covid. We cannot be complacent in our national and local family planning and RH (reproductive health) efforts,” he stressed.
In a report, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) stated that there were 33.4 million or 30.7 percent of the population who were under 15 years of age which are young dependents.
Persons aged 15 to 64 years or those who are part of the working-age or economically-active population, reached 69.4 million or 63.9 percent of the population while those in age groups 65 years and over who are old dependents comprised the remaining 5.86 million or 5.4 percent of the total.
In 2015, PSA said persons aged 0 to 14 years, 15 to 64 years, and 65 years and over accounted for 32, 63.3, and 4.8 percent, respectively, of the household population.
Manageable growth
PEREZ explained that the country needs “to have stable population growth that is manageable through support from national programs.”
“That would mean ideally a population growth rate of 1 percent so we can maintain a good number of effective workers who can support older, retired or partly retired seniors,” he further said.
Perez added that “this effective workforce is crucial not only to support pensions of older Filipinos but also to cover increasing costs of geriatric health care and social services for disabled and isolated older Filipinos.”
Citing PSA data, the Popcom said women of reproductive age, or those 15 years old to 49 years old, are also at a record-high in 2020 figures, which stood at 27.8 million—a jump from 26 million in 2015.
Perez, as the undersecretary of population and development or POPDEV, welcomed this as an opportunity for more Filipinas to further augment the country’s potential number of working citizens.
In terms of responsible parenthood and reproductive health, Popcom estimates that at least 9 million women from that age group will require family planning services.
Perez asserted that the national government has to support the contraceptive needs of 7.6 million women who are currently being served by local governments, as well as anticipate the family planning requirement of the other women in that age group.