TAGUIG CITY, PHILIPPINES – 11 JULY 2025 – Key government officials, civil society organizations, youth advocates, and development partners came together to mark World Population Day 2025 and launch the 2025 State of World Population (SWOP) Report – “The Real Fertility Crisis: The Pursuit of Reproductive Agency in a Changing World” – highlighting the urgent need to strengthen systems that support reproductive agency and empower informed choices, particularly among young people.
The event, held at SMX Aura in Taguig City and co-hosted by the Commission on Population and Development (CPD), the Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development (PLCPD), and UNFPA Philippines, with support from the Australian Government and SM Cares, reflected this year’s global theme, “Empowering young people to create the families they want in a fair and hopeful world.” It spotlighted new evidence and called for age-responsive and gender-sensitive interventions to address early pregnancy, barriers to informed choice, and shifting fertility patterns shaped by socio-economic realities.
Dr. Leila Joudane, UNFPA Country Representative, asserted that “the true fertility crisis isn’t about numbers, but the lack of reproductive agency. Young people frequently struggle to build the families they desire, yet are often unfairly blamed for low fertility rates and are expected to solve them.” She also noted that “we need to focus on the barriers to their choice.”
The UN Resident Coordinator in the Philippines, Mr. Arnaud Peral, echoed the same sentiment and highlighted that “early pregnancy, child marriage, and limited access to reproductive health services still hold many young people back.”
The 2025 State of the World Population Report underscores that the real crisis lies not in how many children people are having, but in the systemic limitations that prevent individuals– especially youth, women, and marginalized groups from making informed and voluntary reproductive decisions. Discussions highlighted how the effect of poverty, gender inequality, limited access to services, and existing social realities on reproductive agency affect people’s ability to choose if they want or don't want to have children. This emphasis on informed choice was especially pertinent for the Philippines, where 70% of women aged 50 and above reported having a number of children that did not match their desire (NDHS, 2022). Against this backdrop, the global theme for World Population Day, serves as a call to invest in youth reproductive rights as a cornerstone for inclusive development.
In the Philippine context, these limitations on reproductive agency were particularly evident among adolescents. Dr. Judith Borja shared key findings from the Longitudinal Cohort Study on the Filipino Child (LCSFC), a study by USC-Office of Population Studies Foundation, Inc. (OPS) supported by UNFPA, UNICEF, and the Australian Government. These findings indicate that by age 16, 8.4% of participants had already engaged in sex, with over 60% of sexually active girls experiencing pregnancy. The cohort study underscores how adolescent pregnancy and early marriage and union are the primary reasons for girls dropping out of school, limiting their options later in life.
“The LCSFC provides compelling evidence that we need to strengthen age-appropriate, evidence-informed policies to better support young people’s sexual and reproductive health,” said Mr. Luke Villiers, Acting Deputy Ambassador, Australian Embassy in the Philippines. “The Australian Government has been proudly supporting the LCSFC for the past nine years. Evidence-based policymaking is fundamental to Australia’s approach. We see the LCSFC as a significant opportunity to support the Philippine Government in strengthening its adolescent health policies and programs through robust and high-quality data, with a particular focus on ensuring that voices and experiences of women and young girls are captured and documented.”
Deputy Executive Director, Mr. Lolito Tacardon presented a recent study by the Commission on Population and Development (CPD), titled "Living together, on their terms: Young Filipinos and the Rise of Cohabitation," which provided valuable insights into how reproductive agency evolves across life stages and socio-economic realities. The study reveals that many young women aged 20–29 choose cohabitation, often as a practical and emotionally supportive choice, particularly in the context of early pregnancy.
While more young adults today are able to exercise autonomy to make choices about starting a family, their decisions—such as when to have children, how many to have, or whether to have children at all–are shaped and heavily influenced by real-life challenges. These include the high cost of raising children, the division of unpaid care work, and the challenges of establishing an independent household. Narratives from participants highlight how financial pressures and the need to prioritize immediate family needs, such as housing and education, frequently lead to delaying marriage and fertility decisions. As highlighted by UNFPA Assistant Representative, Mr. Roi Avena, “Our goal is to empower every individual, especially young people in the Philippines, to realize their reproductive aspirations.”
This year’s observance of World Population Day serves as a pivotal moment to acknowledge the shifting realities faced by Filipino youth. It serves as a platform to reflect on policy implications, from the formative years of early adolescence to the critical decisions of young adulthood. The event today presents new evidence, highlights youth perspectives, and aligns national priorities with the global call to advance reproductive agency, as outlined in the 2025 State of the World Population Report.
