The Delinking of Sex and Marriage: Pathways to Fertility Among Young Filipino Women

Abstract

Summary Partnership and fertility patterns of young Filipinos have changed dramatically from previous generations, with a widening gap between sexual initiation and marriage, and concurrent increases in teenage pregnancy and unwanted fertility. Further understanding of young adults’ social contexts and partnership patterns are needed to inform reproductive health programmes and policies affecting young Filipinos. Multivariate Poisson regression models were conducted with longitudinal and inter-generational data from the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey (1998–2009) to examine the predictors of young women’s fertility. Age at first sex, and number and duration of partnerships each independently and significantly predicted women’s fertility by 2009 after controlling for contextual influences. Young women with more conservative attitudes towards dating, sex and marriage, and who perceived their mothers to have more conservative attitudes, had higher fertility than their peers, as did young women with mothers who reported more adolescent sexual behaviours. In contrast, fertility was lower among daughters who had higher levels of communication with their mothers. Given high levels of unintended fertility and teenage pregnancy in the Philippines, the findings indicate that the interval between sexual initiation and first and subsequent partnerships may be ideal intervention points for reproductive health services for young Filipinos.

Early union, ‘disgrasya’, and prior adversity and disadvantage: pathways to adolescent pregnancy among Filipino youth

“…First, for some young people, though pregnancy was not expected, sex was wanted. They had romantic feelings for their partners, were curious about sex, and wanted to be sexually intimate even amid known social disapproval of premarital sex [27,29]. Second, some pregnancy outcomes were linked to external factors over which young people felt they did not have control, such as their partners' sexual desires or contraceptive behaviour, their access to essential SRH information and supplies, conflict in their home environments, and fate or God's will.…”

Prevalence of teenage pregnancy and the associated contextual correlates in Rwanda

“…As such, the study affirms the role of parental support in preventing unwanted pregnancies among teen girls. In a study conducted in the Philippines, Gipson & Hicks (2018) argued that a close relationship with mothers reduces risks to unwanted pregnancies among young girls. When parents separate, children are more likely to initiate sex at an early age than when the parents stay together ( Kirby et al., 2007 ).…”

A structural equation modeling of reproductive health promoting behaviors among female adolescents in the Philippines

“…The rate at which adolescents in the Philippines are becoming sexually active is increasing rapidly. Approximately one‐third of adolescents have had sexual intercourse (Gipson & Hicks, 2017). While the pregnancy rate is 10%, only 22% of sexually active adolescents reported using contraceptives during their first sexual intercourse experience (Gipson & Hicks, 2017).…”

“…Approximately one‐third of adolescents have had sexual intercourse (Gipson & Hicks, 2017). While the pregnancy rate is 10%, only 22% of sexually active adolescents reported using contraceptives during their first sexual intercourse experience (Gipson & Hicks, 2017). According to the 2015 Global School‐based Student Health Survey in the Philippines, less than half of adolescents received sexual health education in school and their knowledge on sexually related diseases such as HIV/AIDS was insufficient (Department of Health, Republic of the Philippines, 2016).…”

“…Moreover, modern contraceptive use, early sexual health education, and induced abortioneven in cases of rapeare all considered socially taboo topics due to Catholic religious beliefs in the Philippines (Upreti & Jacob, 2018). Moreover, in the Philippines, female adolescents are restricted by social norms that require them to play passive and limited roles; these norms emphasize chastity before marriage, despite increasing rates of premarital sex (Gipson & Hicks, 2017;Upadhyay et al, 2006). However, male adolescents face fewer societal restrictions and more freedom in terms of sexual behavior (Upadhyay et al, 2006).…”