WORKING CHILDREN as a percentage of the overall child population fell to 2.7% in 2024 from 3.5% a year earlier, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported.
The number of working children last year was estimated at 863,000, down from 1.09 million in 2023.
The PSA defines working children as those between five and 17 years and engaged in a family business, or any job, regardless of pay, for at least one hour per week.
The services sector had the biggest share of working children, accounting for 50.3% of the total, against 50% in 2023.
Agriculture accounted for 40.8%.
Boys accounted for 61.8% of working children.
In 2024, 73.8% of working children logged 20 hours or less of work each week, little changed from a year earlier.
Federation of Free Workers (FFW) Vice-President Julius H. Cainglet said that the reduced number of child workers is a good start, but the efforts to reduce child labor will go to waste if the educational system is not improved.
“After all the reason why we want to remove them from work is to get them back to education,” he said via Viber.
Meanwhile, the number of working children involved in “child labor” — those engaged in hazardous work or log more than 40 hours a week — was estimated at about 513,000 in 2024, down from about 678,000 a year earlier.
The PSA estimated that 59.4% of working children in 2024 were engaged in child labor, down from 62% in 2023. The child laborers consisted of 69.1% boys and 30.9% girls.
Agriculture had the highest share of child laborers at 64.2%, followed by services (28.9%) and industry (6.9%).
“We need agro-industrial development so there will be more decent jobs available for the members of the family of working age. We need more funds for education to possibly cover warm and healthy meals for elementary school pupils,” Mr. Cainglet said. — John Phoebus G. Villanueva
