Sustained efforts to reduce child labor needed after 2023 drop

By Chloe Mari A. Hufana, Reporter

DESPITE a drop in the number of working children in 2023, a labor group leader called for intensified efforts to eliminate child labor in the Philippines fully, emphasizing the need for stronger collaboration among trade unions, employers, and the government.

Federation of Free Workers (FFW) President Jose Sonny G. Matula commended the 26% drop in working children (aged between five and 17 years old) in 2023 to 1.09 million from 1.48 million in 2022, adding the government could build on this momentum to address its root causes such as poverty, lack of education, and law enforcement.

“It is also important to provide decent employment and living wages to workers so that their children or younger siblings need not be compelled by circumstances to work,” he told in a Viber message over the weekend.

Last week, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported the data, explaining that the term “working children” covers all children engaged in any form of economic activity regardless of their age or the nature of the work. Working children engaged in “child labor” refers to those who are engaged in hazardous work or whose work exceeds 40 hours.

Out of the 1.09 million working children, boys made up 59.1% of the total, while girls accounted for 40.9%.

The service sector employed 50% of the working children, slightly higher than 49.5% in 2022.   

University of the Philippines Diliman School of Labor and Industrial Relations Assistant Professor Benjamin B. Velasco said these child laborers are working to augment family incomes, especially in the services sector.

“Unfortunately, child labor and working children sustain inter-generational poverty as children busy at work will tend to sacrifice their education which [exacerbates] their future life outcomes,” he told BusinessWorld in a Facebook Messenger chat.

Despite existing measures such as Republic Act No. 9231, the Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act, Mr. Velasco raised its enforcement remains a challenge.

“As studies have consistently concluded, enforcement of good laws is the challenge for the Philippines. We have a weak state and porous capacity to apprehend and penalize violators,” he said, noting extreme forms of child labor like pornography.

For Mr. Matula, the law provides a strong legal framework for children’s protection, but there are still significant gaps.

He said enforcement agencies lack the resources to monitor compliance, especially in remote and informal sectors.

There is also a lack of public awareness and reporting mechanisms that hinder the identification of child labor cases, he added.

To bridge these gaps, Mr. Matula said strengthening inter-agency collaboration, increasing the funds for enforcement and improving community-level awareness are crucial steps.

“Programs that combine poverty alleviation, universal access to quality education, and social support for vulnerable families must be strengthened to break the cycle of child labor,” the labor leader added.

Of the estimated 678,000 working children engaged in child labor in 2023, 62.1% or 422,000 were boys, while 37.9% or 257,000 were girls.

Agriculture had the highest share of child laborers at 65.3%, followed by services (30.7%) and industry (4%).