EDITORIAL - Child laborers

On the same day that the country celebrated Independence Day, the international community observed a special day to stop child labor. The problem is complex and is not just the fault of employers. Poverty drives parents to make their young children help put food on the table, even if it means making the children drop out of school.

In many countries, according to the United Nations, young children are engaged in paid or unpaid domestic work and are vulnerable to various forms of abuse. Recognizing the link to poverty, the UN, on its 12th year of observing World Day Against Child Labor, is urging governments to focus on providing more social protection programs so parents can avoid making their children work.

In the Philippines, those programs are needed ASAP in the areas devastated last year by Super Typhoon Yolanda. The International Labor Organization reported that many children in the disaster zones have stopped schooling to work under harsh or dangerous conditions. Child labor was reported in more than half of 112 barangays in Central and Western Visayas, according to the ILO.

Community leaders and head teachers who helped the ILO in its assessment, which also covered 125 schools, reported that approximately 75 percent of the working children were unable to go to school.

Social protection instruments such as public employment and cash transfer programs can discourage parents from making their children work. ILO and UN officials also note that health care protection for the poor will reduce the need for children to work when a parent falls ill or is unable to work for reasons such as pregnancy.

Special focus can be given to children in the areas hit by Yolanda as well as last year’s powerful earthquake. From there, the government can move to urban slums and other areas where children are not only made to drop out of school to work but are also sold for sex. With expanded social protection, many of these children can still be saved.