Working kids
>> Sunday, September 23, 2012
EDITORIAL
About
5.49 million Filipino children aged 5 to 17 years have experienced work in
their life, and about 2.99 million of them have engaged in hazardous labor in
2011.
A
National Statistics Office survey said two in every 10 children in Cordillera,
three in every 10children in Northern Mindanao
and one in every 10 children in the National Capital Region and in Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
have hazardous labor.
Of
the total number of working children in exploitative conditions, two-thirds
were boys while one-third were girls. Among the children in hazardous labor,
the largest percentage resided in the regions of Central Luzon (10.6%) and
Bicol (10.2%) while the least percentage resided in CAR with 2.3 percent.
These
were data released by the NSO based on result of a 2011 survey on 29 million Filipino
children.
According
to NSO-Cordillera regional director Olivia Gulla, the 2011 the survey on
children was nationwide and designed to collect data on demographic and
socio-economic characteristics of working children five to 17 years old, which
will be used by government planners and policy-makers in crafting programs and
policies in addressing child labor nationwide.
It
is the third in the series of surveys undertaken as part of the International
Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (ILO-IPEC).“The survey, which was
conducted October 2011, aimed to provide comprehensive and updated analysis of
the state of the nation’s working children, five to 17 years old, identifying
priority groups, patterns and extent of child work and the condition of their
work, as well as of non-work activities such as schooling and engagement in
unpaid household services.
It
is unfortunate that children, who should be playing or enjoying their youth,
are forced by circumstances, their parents or relatives into working often
under hazardous conditions. The ball is in the hands of the government to do
something about this.
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