Kehyeng, Christine

FAMIPOP

Individual Reflection Paper 2

Professor Han Rosling emphasized Bangladesh’s family situation dating from years back and
the younger generation females explained how in their mothers’ generation, they married at a very
young age. They didn't have access to technology, no proper education was available, women were
still battling from equal rights and a majority of them stayed at home. The younger generation
however as the years progressed slowly had access to better education, progress in basic health, and
overall better nutrition and hygiene and this gave the younger women more opportunities and that’s
why the birth rate has decreased and yet population still continued to grow according to Professor
Han. The biggest obstacle to family planning is child survival. The population grew slower before
the 1800s because people in the past never got to survive ecological balance with nature. This
tragedy before the industrial revolution hindered the growth of population. Having a lot of kids does
not necessarily mean the population will grow because child survival is essential. Remarkable
growth in fertility rate expects increase in population in 2100s. Adults live longer lives which leads
to the inevitable fill up of adults. This is not necessarily a bad thing with the expected rise of
population. With the current population in the Philippines, it is expected to rise within the next 50
years. With the median age expected to rise and a stable fertility rate, more adults are expected to
have longer life expectancy. This means the elderly are more dependent over the younger generation
to support them with their needs. With this specific forecast of the population, I think that the
Philippine economy is set to boom within the following years and will be able to fill this growth
with more jobs within the market and Filipinos moving less out of the country for more
opportunities elsewhere. With careful planning and assessment of this projected growth, it is our job
to raise awareness to fill the gap of shortages we may experience in the future. The only solution is
a population policy applied on a worldwide scale. As the population increases, the demand for
better welfare among families increases and this may be a constant ripple effect and can be seen as a
struggle.