The Commission on Population (POPCOM) on Friday, Aug. 13, estimated that over 160,000 "adolescent minors" may become or continue to be the heads of their families by the end of this year.
"By end of 2021, there would be 166,775 families will be led by minors throughout the country. This will include 60,000 plus who will give birth in 2021 and about 100,000 minors who continue to be heads of their families from previous years," POPCOM Executive Director Juan Antonio Perez III said in an online forum organized by the University of the Philippines (UP).
"This is a growing number. I think it will be about the highest numbers ever since we started tracking this group," he added.
In a study by the UP Population Institute and the United Nations Population Fund Philippines conducted early in the pandemic, Perez noted that "they were projecting that the health crisis can create another crisis, particularly among adolescents predicting that there could be up to 102,000 unintended pregnancies among adolescents in a worst-case scenario" by end of 2020.
Perez pointed out that unintended pregnancies are of great concern since these are associated with a range of adverse consequences not only for the mother but for her child as well especially when the mother is still a child herself.
Citing a study, he said that adolescent pregnancy is costly because the age-earnings or wage rate profile is higher among those who completed high school compared to those who did not.
He noted that early childbearing has been shown to reduce age-earnings particularly because they were not able to complete high school.
" 4Ps of DSWD has reported that one of the most common reasons why children dropped out of the 4Ps program is because of teen pregnancy," Perez said.
"The losses that these young teenage women bear every year is around P33 billion which is about 1 percent of the GDP . This is lost income for teenage girls who need them the most," he added.
Perez emphasized that teenage pregnancy usually leads to early maturation and role shift, social isolation, and interruption of studies, and denial of gainful employment.
Most of the adolescent mothers juggle domestic workload and child-rearing thus most of them have difficulty coping with their current responsibilities, being a wife and a mother at a very young age.
Moreover, Perez said the feeling and experience of being stigmatized and frowned upon by the community is common to teenagers who got pregnant.
"The embarrassment often prevents pregnant teenagers to visit the health care facility for fear of gossips and criticisms from their neighbors," he said.
He also pointed out that early pregnancy is one of the compelling reasons for stopping one's schooling and some do not go back anymore.
"There is this lack of empowerment among young mothers that they often become financially dependent on their parents or partner's parents," he added.