Fertility rate drops to less than two kids

THE country’s fertility rate dropped this year to below two children per woman of reproductive age, highlighting a demographic transition that could boost efforts to bring down poverty.

The total fertility rate fell to 1.9 offspring per woman aged between 15 and 49 in 2022 from 2.7 in 2017, according to a survey published this week on the Philippine Statistics Authority’s website.

That’s below the 2.1 viewed as the level at which a population replaces itself from a generation to the next.

“Economic gains from the demographic transition can be funnelled to reduce poverty and improve labour force participation,” Lolito Tacardon, the population commission’s officer-in-charge, said in a

separate statement. This will likely help boost savings and investments for couples and individuals.

A spate of countries are seeing fertility rates drop as economic opportunities grow and access to contraception improves.