Neil Aldrin Omega, regional director of the Commission on Population and Development in Northern Mindanao, explaining the consequences of adolescent marriages in a forum organized by the Philippine Information Agency Misamis Oriental, Limketkai Center, Cagayan de Oro City on February 28, 2024. [PIA-MisOr Photo]
MindanaoToday.com | Teen parents earn only 87% of potential income annually
By: Uriel Quilinguing
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Although no suitable age has been set for couples to tie the knot, the state’s Commission on Population and Development (CPD) is advocating for “delayed” marriages as studies show teenage parents realize only about 87% of their potential annual incomes.
Worse, adolescent mothers and fathers could not land on high-paying jobs because they do not have the qualification requirements. Some may not have even finished high school.
Neil Aldrin Omega, CPD regional director for Northern Mindanao said on Wednesday, February 28, in a Kapihan sa PIA forum at Limketkai Center in this city that approximately 30 teenagers gave birth daily in the region from 2019 to 2022.
Omega said that while children are considered “gifts from God,” families must decide how many they can afford to raise well. He recommended ages from 25 to 35 years old, particularly for women, for couples to settle down because most likely at this age-range, they have finished their studies and have stable sources of income.
He said it is costly to raise a family and that this is one major factor why many prefer to delay marriages, others opt for late marriages, while a growing number would rather stay single for life.
The CPD recorded 11,020 live births from teenage mothers aged 11 to 19 years old in 2022 and observed there was a 30% increase among girls aged 10 to 14 years old becoming mothers, rising from 170 in 2020 to 222 in 2021 and 287 in 2022.
Out of the 11,020 live births, over 4,600, or about 42%, were reported in Bukidnon, over 2,000 (19%) in Misamis Oriental, and over 1,300 (12%) in Cagayan de Oro, the region’s capital city.
Omega said although the region’s fertility rate dropped to 2.1 per 1,000 women in 2022 from 3.1 in 2017, the expected benefits of a growing population couldn’t be realized due to teenage pregnancies.
During the period from 2015 to 2020, the population growth rate slowed to 1.46% from 1.58% in the 2010-2015 period.
The so-called demographic dividend, he said, entails a well-educated population capable of making decisions and taking actions to improve the quality of their lives. These include gainful employment, maintaining a healthy environment, and accessing social services.
But these goals could not be attained with high rates of teenage pregnancies, as the situation would only perpetuate intergenerational poverty – a situation in which people who grow up in families with incomes below the poverty line remain poor as adults.
The average family with five members in Northern Mindanao needed at least P13,787 per month to meet their minimum basic food and non-food needs in the first semester of 2023 alone, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). (MP)
###
