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 (Table 1).
Three in every ten children aged 5 to 17 years in Northern Mindanao (29.6%) were working. In the National Capital Region and in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the ratio was one in every ten children.
In every ten working children, six were boys while four were girls (Table 2). By age, 46.7 percent of the working children were 15 to 17 years old, 45.1 percent were 10 to 14 years old and 8.2 percent were 5 to 9 years of age.
Out of the 5.492 million working children, 58.4 percent or an estimated 3.210 million were considered as in child labor, while 41.6 percent or an estimated 2.283 million were considered not in child labor (Table 3A). Child labor in this report refers to children who reported to have worked in hazardous work environment regardless of the number of hours they spent at work, or those who have worked for long hours, that is, more than 20 hours a week for children 5 to 14 years old and more than 40 hours a week for children 15 to 17 years old. Those identified working in hazardous work environment numbered 2.993 million, comprising 54.5 percent of the total working children (Table 3B).
Of the total number of working children in hazardous labor, two-thirds were boys while one-third were girls (Table 4). Those in ages 5 to 9 comprised 6.2 percent and those in ages 10 to 14, 44.3 percent. Among children in hazardous labor, the largest percentage resided in the regions of Central Luzon (10.6%) and Bicol (10.2%).
Seven in ten children in hazardous labor were at the same time attending school (Table 5A). The percentage of children in hazardous labor who were attending school was higher among children 5 to 9 years old than among children 15 to 17 years old. There were more boys than girls among the children in hazardous labor who were attending school (Table 5B).
Sixty-two percent of the children in hazardous labor were working in the agriculture sector, 30.1 percent were in the services sector, and the rest (7.6%) worked in the industry sector (Table 6). Among the boys, 67.9 percent were in agriculture; while among the girls, 51.2 percent.
For every five children in hazardous labor, two were exposed to physical hazards only (39.9%) and one was exposed to both chemical and physical hazards (Table 7). The rest were exposed to other types of hazards.
For every ten children in hazardous labor, four were helping in their own household-operated farm or business while three mentioned to supplement family income as their main reason for working.
Fifty-two percent of boys and 61.8 percent of girls in hazardous labor were unpaid workers in their own household-operated farm or business (Table 9). A higher proportion of boys than girls (29.3% compared to 20.0%) were working in private establishments (26.2%).
More than half of the children in hazardous labor (55.4%) worked in a farm (Table 10). Those who reported working in their own house comprised 12.2 percent.
"Child labor" in this survey refers to the working children who reported to have worked in hazardous environment regardless of the number of hours they spent at work (Hazardous Child Labor), or those who have worked for long hours (more than 20 hours a week for children 5 to 14 years old and more than 40 hours a week for children 15 to 17 years old) or "Other Child Labor." The rest of the working children are classified under "Not Child Labor" category.
Hazardous labor involves exposure to environmental hazards such as physical hazards (e.g. noise, temperature or humidity, slip, trip of fall hazards, etc.), chemical hazards (e.g. dust, mist, fumes or vapor, liquid, etc.) and biological hazards (e.g. bacterial, fungal, viral, parasitic, etc.)
The 2011 SOC questionnaire used a more comprehensive set of questions to catch the incidence of child workers. Aside from the main screening question, seven other screening questions were introduced.
There were two reference periods used: 12 months reference period (October 2010 to September 2011) and past week reference period (the seven days prior to the day of interview). For this press release, the 12 month-reference period is used.