How Poverty Relates to Poverty and Child Trafficking
DID YOU KNOW? There is an inverse relationship between fertility rates and family income. Schultz (2005) stated that poorer families in certain communities have higher fertility, and those households who have increased average potency are likely to receive below the minimum wage across countries. This means that children are being raised by parents who lack the financial capability, which causes several youngsters to be abandoned, orphaned, and neglected. In fact, this is a well-documented trend that occurs similarly among nations across the globe.
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Not-so-fun Fact
An estimate of 1.8 million Filipino children were ignored and deserted, as claimed by the United Nations’ Children’s Rights & Emergency Relief Organization (Kaiman & De Leon, 2016). Moreover, there is a large gap present between the amount of offspring left behind and the ability of agencies to foster them; only a tiny percentage from the population of abandoned youth are provided with care and institutional support. Therefore, a majority of impoverished couples have opted to sell their child, also known as commercial adoption, which is considered unlawful and morally incorrect in the legal bounds of the Philippines law. Promchertchoo (2020) of Channel News Asia reported about a certain Dalisay publicly advertising her soon-to-be-born baby for illegal adoption, even went as far to message a potential customer. The article mentioned Dalisay, aged 21, and her husband, aged 24, revealed that they had no plan of raising a child as they are already having difficulty to provide food for themselves. Hence, the couple utilized Facebook – a well-known social media platform in the Philippines with above 66 million estimated accounts – to search for an adoptive parent out of desperation.
What's the Solution?
One of the best solutions for this long-time global issue would be ADOPTION.
It has already been implemented for quite some time. For further understanding, adoption is the process of uniting a kid and a parent together. In theory, it is a great solution that aids in reducing the number of orphans in the country. However, some people may be discouraged by the complex procedures and pricey charging fees. Hence, President Rodrigo Duterte approved the law – Republic Act No. 11642 – that eases the adoption steps for Filipinos who wish to adopt a child (Parrocha, 2022). The mentioned act, more known as Domestic Administrative Adoption and Alternative Child Care Act, was authorized by the President last January 6, 2022 and was publicized to the press on January 13, 2022. As mentioned in the law, the National Authority for Child Card (NACC) shall guarantee that such petitions and other issues related to alternative child care are “simple, expeditious, and inexpensive, and will redound to the best interest of the child involved” (Parrocha, 2022). Overall, with the implementation of this law, we believe that our neglected youth will be given another chance for a brighter future as more citizens become encouraged towards uniting themselves to a child with a less hassling and costly system.
Referenced Works
De Leon, S. & Kaiman, J. (2016, May 28). The Philippines has 1.8 million abandoned children. Here’s what keeps many from adoption. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-philippines-orphans-adv-snap-story.html
Parrocha, A. (2022, January 13). Law simplifying adoption process for Filipino children inked. Republic of the Philippines: Philippine News Agency. https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1165335
Promchertchoo, P. (2020, March 9). Facebook: An emerging black market for Philippines’ baby trade. Channel News Asia. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/facebook-emerging-market-for-philippines-baby-adoption-trade-779986
Schultz, P. (2005, October). Fertility and income. Yale University. http://www.econ.yale.edu/~pschultz/cdp925.pdf
