PILLAR, PATRICIA GERICKA A.

Baby-o-Matic

I got two different scores upon answering the survey as myself and as a perspective of a
poor person. As myself, I got a score of 15 which suggests that I would have two (2) children. On
the other hand, I scored 24 using the perspective of a poor person which suggests that I would
have four (4) children or more, which is twice the number of my former result. I am more or less
in agreement with the results when I answered the survey as myself. Some days I see myself
having children in the future, other days I can see myself living my life happily even with no
children. It is then that I realize that my circumstances allow me to have that “decision”, instead
of external factors influencing me. I also realized that I am conscious enough that having children
is a really big decision, because you become responsible for another human being indefinitely.
You really need to have financial stability and the emotional and mental tenacity to really take
care of another person.

This brings me to the result of the survey using the perspective of a poor person. The
survey suggests that I would have four (4) or more which is paradoxical since financial stability is
necessary to provide children with a good life. I do admire that the underprivileged have the
emotional and mental tenacity, but without resources, they are imprisoning their children to the
poverty cycle. However, I can’t solely blame them for their decisions since the Filipino culture on
big families is deeply rooted and considering their lack of awareness and education. I realize that
the life of the underprivileged is focused on the family perspective. They rely their happiness,
finances, among others to family members. This is disturbing because what if other family
members are also financially crippled. Being unable to sustain our own wants and needs would
lead to a life of dependency, stress, and lack of individuality.

I think one of the major reasons why poor people have more children is because of Filipino
culture, specifically patriarchy, and lack of education. Patriarchy enforces the idea that a woman’s
importance is dependent on her fertility. This instills the idea the women should marry and have
kids early, as suggested in one of the options in the survey “I’d like to be a parent by the time I
turn 20”. Filipino women are indoctrinated to bear many children and right after they reach the
age of maturity. This mindset coupled with the lack of education is what traps most women to the
poverty cycle. Imagine having children without the educational qualification and employment to
back up their financial needs and without enough grasp of what happens in the real world. Of
course, women are not to blame for this, but are rather victims of the system. All the more reasons
to invest on women now. Improving the quality of life of women create ripples of growth in our
society.