A YOUNG population, high fertility rate and low economic growth are giving the government a hard time in achieving millennium development goals (MDGs).
These include poverty alleviation, child malnutrition, access to and completion of education, reduction of maternal mortality, access to family planning, and reproductive and health services.
“Both young and old populations may experience slower economic growth, while those in the intermediate stages of the age-structural transition have the potential for rapid development. This is what we call the demographic bonus,” said Dr. Socorro Gultiano.
Gultiano, director of the Office of Population Studies (OPS) Foundation Inc. of the University of San Carlos (USC), presented these findings during a recently concluded research forum held at the USC.
Dual challenge
“MDG programs (in the Philippines) face the dual challenge of having to reach a larger population-in-need and inadequate financial resources to do so,” said said.
With this, Gultiano suggested that government shifts its strategies to be able to achieve these MDGs.
Other MDGs include promoting gender equality and empowering women, fighting major diseases such as malaria, ensuring environmental sustainability, and developing a global partnership for development.
These MDGs are part of the Millennium Declaration signed by 189 countries in September 2000.
Population
Last year, the Philippines’ population reached 86 million. By 2050, the figure is projected to reach 142 million.
Based on 2006 records from the National Statistics Office, the population growth remains high at 2.3 percent every year, presenting a doubling of the population every 30 years.
“Fertility decline has been slow. Fertility is higher among poorer, less educated women. Therefore, population aging is gradual and child dependency ratio remains high, although the country is experiencing a “youth bulge,” said Gultiano.
“This is one reason we have common problems on classroom and textbook shortage because even if fertility is declining, we still have so many children entering schools,” she added. (NRC)
