More teen births involve older fathers

Six to seven per cent of babies born to adolescent girls from 2016 to 2020 were fathered by men 10 years older than the mothers. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN

MANILA (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN): Six to seven per cent of babies born to adolescent girls from 2016 to 2020 were fathered by men 10 years older than the mothers, while a majority of teen moms’ male sexual partners were three to five years older than them, according to government data presented to the Senate on Tuesday.

The numbers from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) gave senators, policymakers and public health advocates a picture of the alarming rise of adolescent pregnancies in the Philippines, many of which involve violations of the statutory age of sexual consent.