Child labor cases declined in 2023, but still a concern

CEBU, Philippines — As the country noted a decrease in the number of working children in the year 2023, the persistence of child labor remains a concern as shown in the data reported by Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Children aged 5 to 17 engaged in labor activities declined to 1.09 million in 2023. Compared to 2022, which recorded 1.48 million recorded, this shows a decrease of 373,000.

The proportion of working children within this age group also fell to 3.5 percent in 2023, compared to 4.7 percent in 2022 and 4.3 percent in 2021.

In terms of gender, it showed that boys comprised 647,000 or 59.1 percent, while girls made up 447,000 or 40.9 percent. Similar to 2022 and 2021, boys consistently made up more than half of the working children.

The age group accounted for 72.5 percent of all working children, which reflects an increase from 59.7 percent in 2022 and 63.8 percent in 2021.

The service sector emerged as the leading employer of working children, accounting for 50 percent of the total in 2023.

This was followed by the agriculture sector, which accounted for 43.7 percent. While this sector's share saw a marginal increase from 43.2 percent in 2022, it remained below the 45.7 percent reported in 2021.

Fewer children are involved in industrial work, which had the smallest share, employing 6.3 percent of working children in 2023.

Moreover, the PSA reported 73.7 percent of the working children worked 20 hours or less per week. This figure has slightly decreased from 75.6 percent in 2022, but is significantly higher than the 55.9 percent recorded in 2021.

Meanwhile, the proportion of children working 21 to 40 hours weekly increased to 16.4 percent in 2023, up from 15.7 percent in 2022.

PSA also linked these series of data to child labor, defined as the exploitation of children who are either too young to work or are involved in work that harms their physical, mental, social, or educational capabilities.

“Hazardous Work or activities which are likely to be harmful to the health, safety or morals of children (as identified in the Department of Labor and Employment Department Order No. 149, Series of 2016 – Guidelines in Assessing and Determining Hazardous Work in the Employment of Persons Below 18 years of Age),” read a portion in the report.

This total number of working children engaged in child labor decreased to 678,000 in 2023, compared to 828,000 in 2022.

Boys made up most of the number involved in child labor, comprising 62.1 percent or 422,000 of the total in 2023, while girls accounted for 37.9 percent or 257,000.

Older children, aged 15 to 17, constituted the largest share of child laborers, at 74.4 percent in 2023. This digit was higher than the 61.6 percent reported in 2022 and 64.7 percent in 2021.

The agriculture sector accounted for the largest share of child laborers in 2023, at 65.3 percent. This was followed by the services sector, which employed 30.7 percent, and the industry sector, with 4 percent. - /ATO (FREEMAN)