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FACTORS AFFECTING THE PREVALENCE OF TEENAGE PREGNANCY IN

THE PHILIPPINES

BY: CARLOS MIGUEL G. GERMINO

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………..ii

Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………..iii

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………1

Methodology……………………………………………………………………………..3

Results……………………………………………………………………………………4

Discusion…………………………………………………………………………………7

References……………………………………………………………………………..10
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ABSTRACT

This research is an attempt to get more insight regarding the issue of the

prevalence of teenage pregnancy in the Philippines. The researcher aims to

spread awareness and let the readers be more knowledgeable about teenage

pregnancy in the Philippines, about why does it occur, what are the factors that

affect teenage pregnancy, how to prevent teenage pregnancy, lastly how should

we treat the victims of teenage pregnancy. Aside from gathering data through

researching online, the researcher used a survey research design in order to

gather data efficiently and the researcher was able to produce a satisfactory

result. The data shows that poverty is one of the largest causes of teenage

pregnancy in the Philippines because poverty means lack of education as well

which may also lead to other cases such as negligence and lack of self-control. A

good preventive measure is to give kids sex education as early as possible as a

countermeasure from kids that are exposed early to pornographic videos due to

the easily accessible internet. In order to treat the victims of teenage pregnancy,

comfort from their loved ones is advisable and some counseling wouldn’t hurt

either. Due to the limitations of the study, it was difficult to conclude a study as

significant this.
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CHAPTER I:

INTRODUCTION

Teenage pregnancy is a global issue that occurs in every country. Teenage

pregnancy refers to young women age thirteen to nineteen who have begun

childbearing. Pregnancy can occur by sexual intercourse or assisted reproductive

technology but in this case, most teenage pregnancies occur by sexual

intercourse.

According to Guttmacher Institute, the pregnancy rate of young women in the

United States in 2013 has reached a record of 43 pregnancies for every 1000

young women aged 15-19 and seventy-two percent of teenage pregnancies

occurred most on young women from eighteen to nineteen years old. According

to the data given by Trading Economics, the teenage pregnancy of young women

in Egypt aged 15-19 has a percentage of 10.8% which was taken in 2014.

According to PSA (Philippine Statistics Authority), the final results the National

Demographic and Health Survey indicates that 10% of the young women in the

Philippines has begun childbearing in 2013 and the rate of teenage pregnancy

was decreased to 9% on 2017 on young women aged 15-19.

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In Mangaldan, there are 5 cases of teenage pregnancies known by the

researcher and it is due to the fact that it is barely known in the town. Some of

them were reported in the (DSWD) of Mangaldan Pangasinan which happened

during their high school days. Not only women are reported but so with men who

got their girlfriends pregnant.

The goal of this study is to have a clear view of the causes of why the teenage

pregnancy problem is growing. The study aims to understand the causes and

research on how to prevent teenage pregnancy and to find answers on how to

deal with the situation properly specially if someone close to you in such a

situation. At the end of the research study, the reader will have a clearer view of

why teenage pregnancy occurs until this day and be more cautious about it, also

to let readers be more knowledgeable about the issue, so people can spread

awareness and learn how to comfort those who are experiencing teenage

pregnancy.
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CHAPTER II:

METHODOLOGY

In this study, aside from online researching, the researcher chose a survey

research design to efficiently gather data for his research. The researcher made

the survey simple and easy to understand to prevent the respondents from losing

interest in answering the survey.

The researcher was able to gather a total of 22 respondents with their ages

ranging from 16-19 years old. The respondents are a combination of grade 11

and 1st-year college students from WCC ATC and the University of Pangasinan

in Dagupan.

The survey contained 13 questions and 4 were used to get the respondents’

personal information while the rest were used to gather data regarding the issue

of teenage pregnancy.
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CHAPTER III:

RESULTS

As stated in the previous chapter, several questions were asked to the

respondents. The first question was about the relation of parents to teenage

pregnancy and more than half of the respondent answered yes. Parents are a

huge factor in teenage pregnancy parents are hugely influential figures for most

children. It is advisable for parents to keep in touch with their children by giving

them freedom, while also setting some boundaries to avoid such issues.

The respondents were asked by the researcher what are the main causes of

teenage pregnancy and respondents had common answers. The respondents

answered a lack of self-control and sense of responsibility, furthermore the

negligence of the parents and the teenagers’ poor decision making.

The respondents heavily disagree with resorting to abortion as a solution for

teenage pregnancy as it not only contradicts the values and morals they were

taught, it also violates the law of our country, furthermore, it is greatly opposed by

the Catholic Church which has a big influence in our country.

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The researcher asked the respondents what age we should start educating

children. The respondents had mixed answers but from the choice of 11-19 years

old, 11 and 15 years old was chosen by the majority. They justified their choice

and said, “It is better to educate the children as early as possible to avoid issues

such as teenage pregnancy.” The respondents’ justification is very convincing

specially in our current age where children have easy access to pornographic

sites.

Almost every respondent agreed when they were asked if we should offer to

counsel to teenage mothers. If the confidence and passion of teenage mothers

who have given up are restored, they would be able to contribute to our country’s

economy by working hard. The teenage mothers who have dropped out of school

can be given confidence through counseling and have the courage to come back

to school and possibly contribute to the economy in the future.

The researcher has concluded that parents must take care of their child

properly, along with balancing their freedom and boundaries. Abortion is never
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the answer, instead, let the parents comfort them or give them counseling. And,

giving the children sex education as early as possible is also beneficial.

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CHAPTER IV:

DISCUSSION

The researcher aims to let the readers of this study gain more knowledge and

insight involving the issue of the prevalence of teenage pregnancy.

In order to gather data, the researcher conducted a survey with randomly

chosen respondents. The researcher gathered a total of 22 respondents to

answer his survey with age ranging from 16-19 years old.

The researcher attempted to identify the causes of teenage pregnancy. There

are a lot of factors that can cause teenage pregnancy but the most common is

lack of parental guidance, lack of education and poverty.

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Parental guidance is important because as stated in the previous chapter,

parents are a huge influence on most children’s lives. According to the Philippine

National Demographic and Health Survey, the data showed that the rate of

teenage pregnancy decreases as the household wealth increases, which

supports the researcher’s results that poverty is a major cause of teenage

pregnancy. Some poor families aren’t capable of affording education for their

young, which is the reason for lack of education as well. Due to lack of education,

some teenagers don’t even know how babies are made.

According to debate.org, 73% agreed that we should teach children sex

education from an early age which is almost the same with the researcher’s

gathered data, where the majority of his respondents agreed that we should

teach children as early as possible, specially nowadays where the internet can

easily be accessed even for kids. Children can easily access pornographic sites

without their parents knowing, which is why teaching children about sex

education as early as possible is a good countermeasure for that.

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For the treatment of those teenagers who have begun childbearing, abortion is

never the answer, instead, counseling and comfort from their loved ones is more

favorable by the respondents.

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References:

https://www.debate.org/opinions/should-we-teach-kids-sex-education-from-an-

early-age

https://www.guttmacher.org/news-release/2017/us-rates-pregnancy-birth-and-

abortion-among-adolescents-and-young-adults-continue

https://tradingeconomics.com/egypt/teenage-pregnancy-and-motherhood-

percent-of-women-ages-15-19-who-have-had-children-or-are-currently-pregnant-

q2-wb-data.html

http://www.psa.gov.ph/content/national-demographic-and-health-survey-ndhs