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By Czarina Joy Llagas
Undersecretary of Population and Development, Juan Antonio Perez III was surprised by the drop in the number of birth rates today in the country fraudulently last October 10, Saturday.
Projected increase was attributed onset of pandemic due to limited family planning methods as well as more couples are staying at home during this time, however the birth rates surprisingly declined.
"What we feared at the onset of the pandemic did not happen... based on the PSA numbers, it is clear Filipino women are deciding to delay having children, and families are deferring, or avoiding, to have more kids, as they were made well-aware of the possible hardships and inconvenience in securing medical, as well as family planning services, since the pandemic has severely impeded health care systems", he stated last Saturday.
Based on the preliminary report of Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the number of births has dropped this June 2021 by more than one million compared on the year of 2019. Furthermore, the country had the lowest number of marriages in the few decades with 240,183 couples marrying last year, decreased by 44 % from the 431,972 married couples in 2019.
Perez noted that the decelerate in marriages, pregnancies, and childbirths will likely continue in 2021. The decrease in the number of population on the country by the end of the year is its most probable effect.
"The number of those who gave birth between January and March 2021 were at 268,000 women, compared with the normal trend of 350,000. If that continues, we can see an even smaller addition to the population by year-end," he said.
So far, these is one of the lowest recorded birth rates in the country from the last 34 years since the year 1986.
Sources: Philippine News Agency
Image source: CNN
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