The Commission on Population and Development (CPD) is calling for more substantive planning and investments focused on education, health, and skills development, especially as most of the country’s population is within the working age, which ranges from 15 to 64 years old, in order to take advantage of the “demographic sweet spot” it has enjoyed in the past few years.
“With the growing working age population, composing 63.9 percent of the Philippine population, investments should focus on developing our human capital; especially the education, health, and skills of our people,” the agency said in a recent statement.
“While these trends currently favor our socioeconomic indicators, the challenge is to sustain the accompanying benefits,” said Undersecretary Lisa Grace Bersales, who heads the CPD, formerly known as Popcom.
CPD called for the integration of reproductive health policies with socioeconomic development strategies because of the persistent trend of poorer women having more children than those from higher income families.
Bersales cited the practices from the 1970s of health care providers discussing with potential mothers how they can achieve their desired number of children, aside from just birth limitation. “Education and access to information are still key in ensuring that Filipinos achieve the number of children they desire, when they want it,” she said.
Based on the results of the latest National Demographic and Health Survey, the fertility rate has gone down to 1.7 children per woman in 2025 from 1.9 in 2022 – a continuous decline since 1993, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.
Women with lower education levels have the highest fertility rates with 3.1 children per woman, although the number declines among women with higher educational attainment. Data from the survey also showed that adolescent girls with some primary education recorded the highest percentage of pregnancies, which was highest among women from the poorest households at 9.4 percent, and lowest among the richest families at 1.4 percent.
The “demographic sweet spot” will not last forever, as evidenced by the country’s falling fertility rate. If we are going to take advantage of this opportunity, it has to provide the tools that will help the Filipino people maximize their collective productivity and ultimately lift the standard of living. A government that mindfully invests in programs and policies that will result in further development of education, health, and skills during this time should help its people reap long-reaching benefits if we can make the most of this rare opportunity.*
