Fertility rate falls as more Filipino women delay childbirth — PopCom

The country’s declining total fertility rate (TFR) is largely driven by improved socio-economic conditions among Filipino women and changing preferences among the younger generation, a population official said Wednesday.

Speaking at the 10th National Population Health and Environment (PHE) Conference, Commission on Population and Development (PopCom) Executive Director Lolito Tacardon said that factors such as higher educational attainment, rising incomes, and delayed family planning have contributed to the decrease in the number of children per woman.

“They found that most of the significant factors related to fertility decline is the improvement of the socio-economic condition of women in the Philippines as they improve their education, their income. There is a tendency for them to refer to a lesser number of children and delay their fertility,” Tacardon said, citing a study from the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).

He added that younger Filipinos are also postponing marriage and childbirth to pursue personal and professional goals.

“What we found out is the changing preference especially among young people because most of them tend to delay child birth, pregnancy and formation of family because they want to pursue their personal goals,” he said.

Tacardon also cited a growing use of contraceptives and family planning methods among women as contributing to the decline.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) show that the TFR among Filipino women aged 15 to 49 years dropped from 2.7 children per woman in 2017 to 1.9 in 2022—below the replacement level of 2.1.

Despite the nationwide decline in fertility, Tacardon noted a population increase in urban areas due to internal migration, particularly from rural areas.

"In terms of the declining population in rural areas, our initial analysis shows us that it's really being driven by internal migration, the migration from rural to highly urbanized areas,” he said.

“Before the preference of people was long distance migration, nowadays it’s shorter distance migration,” Tacardon added.