(Book) Reproductive Health and Economic Development: What Connections Should We Focus On?

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by Shareen Joshi

(May 2012) Reproductive health—defined in this PopPov Research Network brief as the use of effective contraception, use of health care during pregnancy and childbirth, and health care for infants—is a critical component of human capital. Investments in RH are linked to lower fertility and reduced maternal and child morbidity and mortality, thereby improving overall health and quality of life.

Policymakers are faced with critical questions as to the extent to which improvements in RH contribute to broader economic returns. This brief examines the emerging evidence base for answering three questions about the relationship between RH and three important areas of human capital development:

– Do healthier women with fewer children invest more in human capital?
– Do women participate more in labor markets?
– Does better RH increase a woman’s ability to earn and save more, and thus help her and her family escape poverty?

The PopPov Network makes research grants, supports dissertation fellows, sponsors meetings and workshops, and now provides an online space for the poppov research community. The goal of the network is to highlight the needs of the researchers, highlight state of the art methodologies, encourage and teach the next generation of researchers, and share ideas and communicate findings among the research community.

Shareen Joshi is a visiting assistant professor at Georgetown University, in the School of Foreign Service. Her research focuses on international economic development, poverty alleviation, health, and demographic change.

Source: http://www.prb.org/Articles/2012/poppov-economicdevelopment-reproductivehealth-women.aspx

(Book) Demographic Governance and Family Planning: The Philippines’ Way Forward

(Excerpts from the book)

As of 4 January 2011 (downloadable at http://bixby.berkeley.edu)
Quintin Pastrana (MSt, MBA) and Lauren Harris (MPH, MA)

Executive Summary

1. The Philippines’ population has grown 12-fold since the turn of the century, and will reach over 160 million in 2040 if the current trend (2.04% population growth and 3.03 average fertility rate) persists.
– This has led to the inability of governments to provide adequate social services, while poverty persists at 33%.

2. Women are most affected by the inability to access effective reproductive health information and methods.
– Filipinos suffer from among the highest regional maternal health morbidity and over 500,000 induced abortions annually, and at least half of which can be prevented through a modern family planning program.

3. Poor families are affected by the lack of access to family planning education and methods.
– The country’s persistent high fertility rate (3.03%) vs. more prosperous countries is due to inability of families, especially the marginalized ones, to meet their desired family size.

4. Majority of Filipinos (9 of 10 surveyed) support family planning, particularly modern methods.
– Most Filipinos support the RH bill, politicians who advocate family planning, and the country is the only predominantly Catholic Country that does not have a policy supporting modern family planning methods.

5. Global Sustainable Development Principles and the Philippine Constitution warrant family planning as a fundamental and constitutional right.
– With the country’s biocapacity (resources to sustainably support life) breached, and only 10% of its forest cover, coral reefs, and food self-sufficiency, the Philippines must exercise the globally accepted Precautionary Principle to preserve its remaining resources to ensure the survival and well-being of future generations.

6. The Philippines can learn lessons from how progressive countries with different ideologies and faiths have adopted family planning policies that support their sustainable development.
– Catholic Countries such as Chile and Colombia; Islamic countries such as Iran and Indonesia; and Buddhist countries such as Thailand have shown success in terms of effectively lowering and sustaining fertility rates while improving their socio-economic indicators towards long-term sustainable development.

7. Given these realities, a 5-point Demographic Governance Program must be implemented in the Philippines:
– Funding for Family Planning*. Enabling adequate resources for both modern and natural family planning methods at the national and local level, with public, private, and international sources
– Public Private Partnerships for Family Planning Education*. Coordination of a nation-wide grassroots information and education program by national and local governments, NGOs, churches, and the media.
– Direct Poverty Interventions. Synergistic, coordinated combination of Conditional Cash Transfers, Microfinance & Women’s livelihood, and Informal Settler Housing and Registration (I-SHARE) Program
– Demographic Institutional Alignment*. Consolidate all demographic programs under a Dept. of Population and Migration, or reform Population Commission to manage overall Family Planning Policy.
– Land use and Demographic Monitoring. Finalize Land Use Policy (National and Local Level); Enforce the Urban Housing Development Act, Tax idle lands and use proceeds for I-SHARE Program, and map regional and nationwide demographic movements for better planning and responses.

8. By balancing resources with sustainable demographic demand, this enables the ff. Key Result Areas (KRAs) in 10 years and allows the Philippines to meet its commitments to the U.N. Millennium Development Goals:
– Increase contraceptive prevalence rate from under 50% to above 70%,
– Reduce unintended abortions to half (under 250,000/annually)
– Lower total fertility rate from 3.03% to 2.1% (sustainable replacement rate)
– Increase Health and Education budgetary spending by 30%
– Improve GDP per capita and Human Development Indexes, and lower poverty rates 33% to 25%

*requires national legislation and complementary local regulations to ensure sustainability, optimal reach, and positive outcomes

(Click on the link below to download and view the rest of the book)

Source: http://bixby.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Family-Planning-Policy-Brief-1-4-111.pdf

(Book) Demographic Transition and the Demographic Dividend

(Excerpts from the book)

The rapid population growth in the Philippines over the last several decades has hindered the country’s economic development. From 2000 to 2009, the Philippines had one of the highest population growth rates in the Southeast Asian region at 2.04 percent (as of 2007) and the second largest population of more than 92 million in 2009, next only to Indonesia. It comes as no surprise that in 2006, 32.9 percent of our population, or an equivalent 28 million Filipinos were living below the poverty line (NSCB, 2006).

The core idea which links population and economic growth is demographic transition, described as “a change from a situation of high fertility and high mortality to one of low fertility and low mortality.” A country that enters into a demographic transition experiences sizable changes in the age distribution of the population and this affects economic growth.

The Philippines failed to achieve a demographic transition similar to what its Southeast and East Asian neighbors had in the past three decades. All of the mortality rates of these countries (including the Philippines) broadly declined at similar rates. In the Philippines, however, fertility rates dipped slowly; so while population growth rates substantially dropped to below 2 percent a year in other countries (such as Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam), the Philippines’ high population growth rate of more than 2 percent per year barely changed.

Studies show that demographic transition accounts for a significant portion (about one third) of the economic growth experienced by East Asia’s economic “tigers” during the period 1965 to 1995 (Bloom and Williamson, 1997). The effect of the demographic transition on income growth is known as the first demographic dividend. In the course of the demographic transition, countries experience an increasing share of the working age population relative to the total population and this creates favorable effects on the per capita income. In addition to the first dividend, there is another positive effect on economic growth and is referred to as the second demographic dividend. This dividend results when individuals accumulate savings in their working years to serve as buffer during their retirement years. While accumulation of capital can be used to deal with the lowering of income in the older ages, this capital also influences economic growth. As Mason (2007)points out, it is when society increases its savings rate that more rapid economic growth results — creating the second demographic dividend. Mason estimated that the first and second demographic dividends account for 37.7 percent of the yearly average per capita growth rate of Japan from 1950 to 1980.

(Book) Poverty in the Philippines: Causes, Constraints and Opportunities

Date: December 2009
Type: Books
Country: Philippines
Subject: Poverty
ISBN: 978-971-561-857-1 (print)

Description
Against the backdrop of the global financial crisis and rising food, fuel, and commodity prices, addressing poverty and inequality in the Philippines remains a challenge. The proportion of households living below the official poverty line has declined slowly and unevenly in the past four decades, and poverty reduction has been much slower than in neighboring countries such as the People’s Republic of China, Indonesia, Thailand, and Viet Nam. Economic growth has gone through boom and bust cycles, and recent episodes of moderate economic expansion have had limited impact on the poor. Great inequality across income brackets, regions, and sectors, as well as unmanaged population growth, are considered some of the key factors constraining poverty reduction efforts.

Poverty in the Philippines: Causes, Constraints, and Opportunities comprehensively analyzes the causes of poverty and recommends ways to accelerate poverty reduction and achieve more inclusive growth. The report provides an overview of current government responses, strategies, and achievements in the fight against poverty and identifies and prioritizes future needs and interventions. The analysis is based on current literature and the latest available data, including the 2006 Family Income and Expenditure Survey.

(Click on the link below to find the page where you can download the book)

Source: http://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/pub/2009/Poverty-Philippines-Causes-Constraints-Opportunities.pdf

(Book) Population Dynamics and Household Saving: Evidence from the Philippines

Mapa, Dennis S and Bersales , Lisa Grace S (2008): Population Dynamics and Household Saving: Evidence from the Philippines. Published in: The Philippine Statistician , Vol. 57, No. 1-4 (2008): pp. 1-27.

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Abstract
The economic growth implications due to changes in the nation’s age structure have been substantial. In the course of the demographic transition, countries experience an increasing share of the working age population relative to the total population and this creates favorable effects on economic growth. The changing age structure also influences household saving rate. This paper looks at the role of the slow demographic transition in the Philippines to its aggregate household saving rate using panel data from the Family Income and Expenditure Survey (1985 to 2003). It is known for a fact that household saving rate in the Philippines is one of the lowest in East Asia. The econometric model is based on the augmented life cycle model and the results suggest that the country’s population dynamics plays an important role in its household saving rate. The Philippines rapid population growth creates a big bulge in the lower portion of the age pyramid that resulted in a higher percentage of young dependents. This suggests that the country is paying a high price for its high population growth resulting to low saving rate and consequently, low economic growth. The results also show that remittance from migrant workers is a major source of aggregate household saving.

Item Type: MPRA Paper
Language: English
Keywords: Demographic Transition, Saving Rate
Subjects: C – Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C5 – Econometric Modeling > C51 – Model Construction and Estimation
J – Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 – Demographic Economics > J10 – General
E – Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E2 – Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment > E21 – Macroeconomics: Consumption; Saving; Aggregate Physical and Financial Consumer Wealth
ID Code: 21245
Deposited By: Dennis S. Mapa
Deposited On: 11. Mar 2010 02:40
Last Modified: 17. Mar 2010 09:31
References:
Attanasio, O.P. and Székely, M. (2001). Household saving in developing countries: Inequality, Demographics and all that. How different are Latin America and South East Asia? A paper was prepared for the World Bank April, 2000 ABCDE conference in Development Economics. February 2001

(Book) Situation Analysis of the Philippine Population 2005

January 1, 2006

To increase the effectiveness of United Nations (UN) support in ensuring that the Millennium Development Goals and the objectives of the International Conference on Population and Development are achieved in the Philippines, the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) process was initiated.

The UNDAF is the basis of all Country Programmes operating in the Philippines for the period 2005-2009. It is based on the Common Country Assessment (CCA) document that was, in turn, based on various country situational analyses

(Click on the link below to find the page where you can download the book)

Source: http://www.unfpa.org.ph/index.php/publications/246-situation-analysis-of-the-philippine-population-2005

(Book) Poverty in the Philippines: Income, Assets, and Access

Karin Schelzig, Asian Development Bank

Asian Development Bank, Ene 1, 2005 – 152 mga pahina

This publication examines official income poverty statistics and trends, but takes a multidimensional approach in exploring questions of access. The report looks at access by the poor to five important assets: human, physical, natural, social, and financial capital. The report identifies seven broad causes of poverty: macroeconomic problems, employment issues, rapid population growth, low agricultural productivity, governance concerns including corruption, armed conflict, and physical disability.

(Click on the link below to find the page where you can download the book)

http://books.google.com.ph/books/about/Poverty_in_the_Philippines.html?id=iVIW-Qh50HoC&redir_esc=y

(Book) Population and Poverty:The Real Score

(Excerpts from the book)

Introduction
The public debate on the population issue – long settled in most of the developing world– remains unresolved in the Philippines. We aim in this paper to contribute to the debate,in particular to highlight the role the government must play to face up to thisdevelopment challenge.

On one extreme, there are those who say that there is no population problem and, hence, that there is nothing the government needs to do about it. On the other, some view population growth as the principal cause of poverty that would justify the government resorting to draconian and coercive measures to deal with the problem (e.g., denial of basic services and subsidies to families with more than two children).

We consider these extreme views and arrive at what we think is a balanced, more reasoned and, hopefully, more widely acceptable position. Our review of the extensiveliterature and our analysis of relevant empirical data lead us to the following key messages:

Poverty is a complex phenomenon, and many factors are responsible for it. Rapid population growth alone cannot explain poverty. Bad governance, high wealth and income inequality and weak economic growth are the main causes. But rapid population growth and high fertility rates, especially among the poor, do exacerbate poverty and make it harder for the government to address it. The government’s target of reducing poverty incidence to 20% or lower by 2010 would not be feasible, given historical growth rates of population and the economy.

(Book) Population: Does It Matter? Revisiting an Old Issue

Pernia, Ernesto

For many years, the Philippines has neglected the issue of population growth, consequently finding itself now virtually alone among middle-income developing countries as not having made any significant demographic transition. Because of this, the Policy Notes implies that the country has remained in a low-level equilibrium trap which involves a chain of low economic growth, high unemployment, low productivity, persistent poverty, declining human capital and high fertility feeding back into low economic growth and so on and so forth. To break this vicious chain, a clear and consistent population policy, matched by an adequately funded action program, is said to be needed.

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Source: http://publication.pids.gov.ph/details.php?pid=2321

(Book) Population and Poverty: A Review of the Links, Evidence and Implications for the Philippines

Orbeta, Aniceto Jr. C.

The article reviews trends in population and poverty, compares population and development between the Philippines and Thailand over the last 40 years, discusses the theoretical links between population and poverty as well as the empirical evidence, and finally its implications for policy. The author emphasizes the primacy of growth as a development strategy in reducing poverty and perhaps inequality, as well as better fertility management–particularly among the poor–aimed at the potential development benefits arising from demography.

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Source: http://publication.pids.gov.ph/details.php?pid=3053