23-11-2024 (MANILA) The Philippines has reported a substantial decrease in child labour cases, with official figures showing the number of working children dropped to 1.09 million in 2023, marking a significant reduction from 1.48 million in the previous year.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) released data indicating that the proportion of working children aged five to 17 has fallen to 3.5 per cent of the total child population, compared to 4.7 per cent in 2022. This continues a positive trend from 2021, when the figure stood at 4.3 per cent.
Gender analysis reveals that boys continue to make up the majority of working children, accounting for 59.1 per cent of cases, while girls represent 40.9 per cent. The services sector emerged as the primary employer of child workers, absorbing 50 per cent of the total working children in 2023.
More significantly, the number of children classified as child labourers – those engaged in hazardous or exploitative work – has decreased to 678,000 in 2023, showing substantial improvement from 828,000 in 2022 and 935,000 in 2021. The majority of these child labourers fall within the 15-17 age bracket, representing 74.4 per cent of cases.
The agricultural sector remains the largest employer of child labourers, accounting for 65.3 per cent of cases, followed by the services sector at 30.7 per cent. The industrial sector represented the smallest share at 4 per cent.
