Filipino Children Forced to Work

Child labor is recognized as a serious dilemma in Asia and the Pacific area, but it is especially problematic in the Philippines. In the third quarter of 1991, the Philippine Department of Labor and Employment estimated that there were 777,000 Filipino workers between the ages of ten and fourteen, and 1.4 million between fifteen and seventeen years, not including all the workers less than 10 years of age (United States Department of Labor).  Unfortunately, this serious child labor problem is a result of the underdeveloped economy in the Philippines, as over thirty-three percent of the population lives under the nationally established poverty line (SOS Children’s Villages). These economic problems contribute to child labor in the Philippines as children are unable to afford education expenses, force parents to work abroad, and have other countries like the US want to help. 

The economic instability of the Philippines has forced this high amount of children to join the dangerous work force.  Although the Philippines have free public education through grade six, only about sixty percent of school-aged children actually attend. Because parents have difficulty accommodating the cost of sending their children to school, including food and transportation allowances, many of these children from poor families are forced to drop-out (United States Department of Labor). Once out of school, the children feel obligated to contribute to their families’ earnings, and so get a job in domestic work, mining, fishing industries, or agricultural labor.  Also, the lack of economic opportunities in the Philippines forces parents to work overseas, and so about ten million Filipinos are employed abroad. And although the money they send home makes an important contribution to the national economy, it is still not enough to fully support their families financially, and the children have to go to work (SOS Children’s Villages).  The amount of children working in this country is so severe that the US government has awarded a fifteen million grant to help an international organization combat child labor in the Philippines.  World Vision called attention to a US Department of Labor report which stated recently that around four million Filipino children worked daily in "hazardous, exploitative labor," thus making the Philippines one of over 120 countries where the worst forms of child labor still exist, and needs extensive help to solve the issue (Calleja).

Thus the underdevelopment of the Filipino economy is the major reason why child labor is such a severe issue in the country.  When it comes down to it, parents are unfortunately forced by poverty to send their children to work long hours under scorching heat, performing physically arduous tasks not suitable for children.  Thus if the economy wasn’t as bad as it is, parents would be able to afford to keep their children in school, rather than rely on the children to earn money for their financial situation.  And so the problem of child labor will not be solved in the Philippines until the state of the economy is first improved.

Works Cited:

United States Department of Labor. The Philippines. 29 Apr. 2012. <http://www.dol.gov/ILAB/media/reports/iclp/sweat/philippines.htm#1>

SOS Children’s Villages. General Information on the Philippines.  Web. 29 Apr. 2012. <http://www.sos-usa.org/About-SOS/Where-we-help/Asia/Philippines/Pages/default.aspx?gclid=CKSloJz42K8CFUSK4AodhReVDw>

Calleja. “US Gives US$15m Grant to Combat Child Labor”. Asia News Network. 25 Feb. 2010. 29 Apr. 2012.