CHILD LABOR IN THE PHILIPPINES 6

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

According to International Labor Organization (ILO), Child labour is work that deprives children
of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental
development. In the Philippines, there are 2.1 million child labourers aged 5-17 years old based
on the 2011 Survey on Children of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). About 95 per cent of
them are in hazardous work. Sixty-nine per cent of these are aged 15-17 years old, beyond the
minimum allowable age for work but still exposed to hazardous work. Children work in farms
and plantations, in dangerous mines, on streets, in factories, and in private homes as child
domestic workers. Agriculture remains to be the sector where most child labourers can be found
at 58 per- cent. The Philippines has ratified the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No.
138) and Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No.182. It has adopted the Philippine
Program Against Child Labor (PPACL) as the official national programme on the elimination of
child labour. This is a convergence of the efforts of the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC) ,
chaired by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) working together with the
government, the private sector, workers and employers organizations, non-government
organizations (NGOs) and international development institutions towards the prevention,
protection and removal from hazardous and exploitative work of child labour victims and, as may
be appropriate, healing and reintegrating them. The ILO supports the Philippines in
implementing the PPACL through its International Programme on the Elimination of Child
Labour (IPEC). The ILO, in partnership with the United States Department of Labor
(USDOL) implemented the Country Level Engagement and Assistance to Reduce Child Labor
(CLEAR) and addressed recommendations in the Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor
Report of the USDOL. The ILO has also implemented the Convening Stakeholders to Develop and
Implement Strategies to Reduce Child Labour and Improve Working Conditions in Artisanal and
Small-Scale Gold Mining (COSTREC-ASGM) project aimed at addressing child labour, decent work
deficits and working conditions in Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM).The COSTREC-
ASGM project will support the sector towards setting-up of legal and regulated Peoples’ Small
Scale Mines (Minahang Bayan) that are compliant with environmental, health, and labour
standards.

http://ilo.org/manila/areasofwork/child-labour/lang--en/index.htm
CHILD LABOR IN THE PHILIPPINES 7

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Estimated Number of Working Children 5 to 17 Years Old Who Worked During The Past Week
Was 3.3 Million (Final Results of the 2011 Survey on Children)

Based on the final results of the 2011 SOC, the estimated number of children aged 5 to 17 years
who worked for at least one hour during the past week in October 2011 was 3.3 million. They
accounted for 12.4 percent of the estimated 26.6 million children 5 to 17 years old in the country.

The number of working children 5 to 17 years old is estimated at 5.5 million (Preliminary
Results of the 2011 Survey on Children)

An estimated 5.492 million children aged 5 to 17 years were working in 2011 according to the
preliminary results of the 2011 Survey on Children (SOC). In this survey, children aged 5 to 17
years who worked for at least one hour during the past 12 months were considered working.
These working children represented 18.9 percent of the total children 5 to 17 years old. NSO and
ILO-IPEC set to present final results of the latest survey on children. The National Statistics Office
(NSO) in cooperation with the International Labour Organization-International Programme for
the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC) is set to present today, 10 October 2001, 8:30 AM, the
highlights of the final results of the 2001 Survey on Children (SOC). It will be held at the
Manansala Function Rooms A and B of Manila Galleria Suites, Ortigas Center, Pasig City. The
national data dissemination activity is line with this year's celebrations of two significant events
- the National Children's Month and the 13th National Statistics Month.

Statistics on Filipino Children (Results from the 1995 National Survey on Working Children)

An estimated 3.6 million children aged 5 - 17 had worked at anytime between August 1994 to
July 1995. This was the latest estimate on the working children in the country based on the 1995
Survey of Children 5 - 17 Years Old. The survey was conducted by the National Statistics Office
and the very first ever nationwide survey on working children conducted in the Philippines.

https://psa.gov.ph/tags/working-children