because national and local governments are constrained in providing the widest range of free FP commodities and services. 9. Inequities remain in nutrition and health outcomes. While there have been major improvements in the health conditions of Filipinos as indicated by increasing life expectancy rates and low mortality and morbidity rates, inequities remain across regions, population and income groups. Among the regions, conflict-affected and disaster-prone areas experienced poorer health outcomes. ARMM lagged in most health indicators and regions exposed to multiple hazards (i.e. Zamboanga Peninsula and CARAGA) fared worse in some indicators compared to the national average. 10. Access to education has been uneven and completion rate is low. Acquiring new knowledge and skills allows the workforce to become more productive, thereby increasing their incomes and improving their quality of life. Thus, education is a critical input in optimizing the demographic dividend. 11. Youth unemployment is extremely high. Unemployment rate among 15-24-year olds is more than twice the overall unemployment rate. In addition, the share of youth not in school and not employed in the total young working population is 22.1 percent. This has serious implications, as the demographic dividend will largely depend on a productive working-age population. 12. Savings rate in the country is low. The country’s gross national saving-to-GDP ratio stands at 29.9 percent as of the third quarter of 2016. Capital accumulation facilitates economic growth, which will be an important factor in maximizing the demographic dividend, and even creating a second demographic dividend. However, saving behavior is quite shallow. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas estimates that only 22 percent of adults have a formal savings account. Priority Actions 1. Attain zero unmet need for modern family planning. The government, together with all stakeholders, will strive to implement the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act (RA 10354), the Magna Carta of Women (RA 9710), the National Population Policy (PD 79, s. 1972) and other relevant national interventions that promote the reproductive rights of Filipinos. Demandgeneration strategies including advocacy for increased local government counterpart resources and funding will be intensified to ensure improved access of all Filipinos to the widest range of family planning methods. This is essentially assisting couples and individuals achieve their desired family size within the context of responsible parenthood and informed choice in order to achieve population outcomes that are facilitative of economic growth. Men’s involvement and civil society and private sector engagement will be mobilized in the promotion of universal access to modern family planning methods. Service delivery networks for maternal and adolescent health and family planning will be strengthened to ensure the continuum of reproductive health care, particularly family planning. 2. Continue promoting proper birth spacing of three to five years to lower fertility levels among women. Proper birth spacing likewise facilitates the demographic dividend in households and among individuals. With birth spacing that results in lower fertility, women have greater chances of productively participating in the labor force and in human resource formation activities such as education and training. 3. Prevent unwanted pregnancies through ageappropriate reproductive health services, including family planning to sexually-active adolescents and those who had their first birth. Information and service delivery networks for adolescent health and development will 22 2019 Annual Report Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012