research about child labor in the philippines

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Introduction, methodology.

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Child labor and health: a systematic literature review of the impacts of child labor on child’s health in low- and middle-income countries

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Abdalla Ibrahim, Salma M Abdalla, Mohammed Jafer, Jihad Abdelgadir, Nanne de Vries, Child labor and health: a systematic literature review of the impacts of child labor on child’s health in low- and middle-income countries, Journal of Public Health , Volume 41, Issue 1, March 2019, Pages 18–26, https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdy018

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To summarize current evidence on the impacts of child labor on physical and mental health.

We searched PubMed and ScienceDirect for studies that included participants aged 18 years or less, conducted in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and reported quantitative data. Two independent reviewers conducted data extraction and assessment of study quality.

A total of 25 studies were identified, the majority of which were cross-sectional. Child labor was found to be associated with a number of adverse health outcomes, including but not limited to poor growth, malnutrition, higher incidence of infectious and system-specific diseases, behavioral and emotional disorders, and decreased coping efficacy. Quality of included studies was rated as fair to good.

Child labor remains a major public health concern in LMICs, being associated with adverse physical and mental health outcomes. Current efforts against child labor need to be revisited, at least in LMICs. Further studies following a longitudinal design, and using common methods to assess the health impact of child labor in different country contexts would inform policy making.

For decades, child labor has been an important global issue associated with inadequate educational opportunities, poverty and gender inequality. 1 Not all types of work carried out by children are considered child labor. Engagement of children or adolescents in work with no influence on their health and schooling is usually regarded positive. The International Labor Organization (ILO) describes child labor as ‘work that deprives children of their childhood, potential and dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development’. 2 This definition includes types of work that are mentally, physically, socially or morally harmful to children; or disrupts schooling.

The topic gained scientific attention with the industrial revolution. Research conducted in the UK, because of adverse outcomes in children, resulted in acts for child labor in 18 02. 3 Many countries followed the UK, in recognition of the associated health risks. The ILO took its first stance in 1973 by setting the minimum age for work. 4 Nevertheless, the ILO and other international organizations that target the issue failed to achieve goals. Child labor was part of the Millennium Development Goals, adopted by 191 nations in 20 00 5 to be achieved by 2015. Subsequently, child labor was included in the Sustainable Development Goals, 6 which explicitly calls for eradication of child labor by 2030.

Despite the reported decline in child labor from 1995 to 2000, it remains a major concern. In 2016, it was estimated that ~150 million children under the age of 14 are engaged in labor worldwide, with most of them working under circumstances that denies them a playful childhood and jeopardize their health. 7 Most working children are 11–14 years, but around 60 million are 5–11 years old. 7 There are no exact numbers of the distribution of child labor globally; however, available statistics show that 96% of child workers are in Africa, Asia and Latin America. 1

Research into the impacts of child labor suggests several associations between child labor and adverse health outcomes. Parker 1 reported that child labor is associated with certain exposures like silica in industries, and HIV infection in prostitution. Additionally, as child labor is associated with maternal illiteracy and poverty, children who work are more susceptible to malnutrition, 1 which predisposes them to various diseases.

A meta-analysis on the topic was published in 20 07. 8 However, authors reported only an association of child labor with higher mortality and morbidity than in the general population, without reporting individual outcome specific effects. 8 Another meta-analysis investigated the effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), including child labor, on health. They reported that ACEs are risk factors for many adverse health outcomes. 9

To our knowledge, this is the first systematic review that attempts to summarize current evidence on the impacts of child labor on both physical and mental health, based on specific outcomes. We review the most recent evidence on the health impacts of child labor in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) according to the World Bank classification. We provide an informative summary of current studies of the impacts of child labor, and reflect upon the progress of anti-child labor policies and laws.

Search strategy

We searched PubMed and ScienceDirect databases. Search was restricted to publications from year 1997 onwards. Only studies written in English were considered. Our search algorithm was [(‘child labor’ OR ‘child labor’ OR ‘working children’ OR ‘occupational health’ OR ‘Adolescent work’ OR ‘working adolescents’) AND (Health OR medical)]. The first third of the algorithm was assigned to titles/abstracts to ensure relevance of the studies retrieved, while the rest of the terms were not. On PubMed, we added […AND (poverty OR ‘low income’ OR ‘developing countries’)] to increase the specificity of results; otherwise, the search results were ~60 times more, with the majority of studies being irrelevant.

Study selection

Studies that met the following criteria were considered eligible: sample age 18 years or less; study was conducted in LMICs; and quantitative data was reported.

Two authors reviewed the titles obtained, a.o. to exclude studies related to ‘medical child labor’ as in childbirth. Abstracts of papers retained were reviewed, and subsequently full studies were assessed for inclusion criteria. Two authors assessed the quality of studies using Downs and Black tool for quality assessment. 10 The tool includes 27 items, yet not all items fit every study. In such cases, we used only relevant items. Total score was the number of items positively evaluated. Studies were ranked accordingly (poor, fair, good) (Table 1 ).

Characteristics of studies included

* The quality is based on the percentage of Downs and Black 10 tool, < 50% = poor, 50–75% = fair, > 75% = good.

** BMI, body mass index.

*** HIV, human immunodeficiency virus; HBV, hepatitis B virus; HCV, hepatitis C virus.

Data extraction and management

Two authors extracted the data using a standardized data extraction form. It included focus of study (i.e. physical and/or mental health), exposure (type of child labor), country of study, age group, gender, study design, reported measures (independent variables) and outcome measures (Table 1 ). The extraction form was piloted to ensure standardization of data collection. A third author then reviewed extracted data. Disagreements were solved by discussion.

Search results

A flow diagram (Fig. 1 ) shows the studies selection process. We retrieved 1050 studies on PubMed and 833 studies on Science Direct, with no duplicates in the search results. We also retrieved 23 studies through screening of the references, following the screening by title of retrieved studies. By reviewing title and abstract, 1879 studies were excluded. After full assessment of the remaining studies, 25 were included.

Study selection process.

Characteristics of included studies

Among the included studies ten documented only prevalence estimates of physical diseases, six documented mental and psychosocial health including abuse, and nine reported the prevalence of both mental and physical health impacts (Table 1 ). In total, 24 studies were conducted in one country; one study included data from the Living Standard Measurement Study of 83 LMIC. 8

In total, 12 studies compared outcomes between working children and a control group (Table 1 ). Concerning physical health, many studies reported the prevalence of general symptoms (fever, cough and stunting) or diseases (malnutrition, anemia and infectious diseases). Alternatively, some studies documented prevalence of illnesses or symptoms hypothesized to be associated with child labor (Table 1 ). The majority of studies focusing on physical health conducted clinical examination or collected blood samples.

Concerning mental and psychosocial health, the outcomes documented included abuse with its different forms, coping efficacy, emotional disturbances, mood and anxiety disorders. The outcomes were measured based on self-reporting and using validated measures, for example, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), in local languages.

The majority of studies were ranked as of ‘good quality’, with seven ranked ‘fair’ and one ranked ‘poor’ (Table 1 ). The majority of them also had mixed-gender samples, with only one study restricted to females. 24 In addition, valid measures were used in most studies (Table 1 ). Most studies did not examine the differences between genders.

Child labor and physical health

Fifteen studies examined physical health effects of child labor, including nutritional status, physical growth, work-related illnesses/symptoms, musculoskeletal pain, HIV infection, systematic symptoms, infectious diseases, tuberculosis and eyestrain. Eight studies measured physical health effects through clinical examination or blood samples, in addition to self-reported questionnaires. All studies in which a comparison group was used reported higher prevalence of physical diseases in the working children group.

Two studies were concerned with physical growth and development. A study conducted in Pakistan, 11 reported that child labor is associated with wasting, stunting and chronic malnutrition. A similar study conducted in India compared physical growth and genital development between working and non-working children and reported that child labor is associated with lower BMI, shorter stature and delayed genital development in working boys, while no significant differences were found among females. 12

Concerning work-related illnesses and injuries, a study conducted in Bangladesh reported that there is a statistically significant positive association between child labor and the probability to report any injury or illness, tiredness/exhaustion, body injury and other health problems. Number of hours worked and the probability of reporting injury and illness were positively correlated. Younger children were more likely to suffer from backaches and other health problems (infection, burns and lung diseases), while probability of reporting tiredness/exhaustion was greater in the oldest age group. Furthermore, the frequency of reporting any injury or illness increases with the number of hours worked, with significant variation across employment sectors. 13 A study in Iran reported that industrial workrooms were the most common place for injury (58.2%). Falling from heights or in horizontal surface was the most common mechanism of injury (44%). None of the patients was using a preventive device at the time of injury. Cuts (49.6%) were the most commonly reported injuries. 14

Other studies that investigated the prevalence of general symptoms in working children in Pakistan, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Indonesia reported that child labor is negatively associated with health. 15 – 19 Watery eyes, chronic cough and diarrhea were common findings, in addition to history of a major injury (permanent loss of an organ, hearing loss, bone fractures, permanent disability). 20 One study, conducted in India reported that working children suffered from anemia, gastrointestinal tract infections, vitamin deficiencies, respiratory tract infections, skin diseases and high prevalence of malnutrition. 21 Another study—of poor quality—in India reported that child labor was associated with higher incidence of infectious diseases compared to non-working children. 22

Only a few studies focused on specific diseases. A study in Brazil compared the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain between working and non-working children. Authors reported that the prevalence of pain in the neck, knee, wrist or hands, and upper back exceeded 15%. Workers in manufacturing had a significantly increased risk for musculoskeletal pain and back pain, while child workers in domestic services had 17% more musculoskeletal pain and 23% more back pain than non-workers. Awkward posture and heavy physical work were associated with musculoskeletal pain, while monotonous work, awkward posture and noise were associated with back pain. 23 A study in Nicaragua, which focused on children working in agriculture, reported that child labor in agriculture poses a serious threat to children’s health; specifically, acute pesticides poisoning. 24

A study conducted in India reported that the prevalence of eyestrain in child laborers was 25.9%, which was significantly more than the 12.4% prevalence in a comparison group. Prevalence was higher in boys and those who work more than 4 h daily. 25 Another study conducted in India documented that the difference between working and non-working children in the same area in respiratory morbidities (TB, hilar gland enlargement/calcification) was statistically significant. 26

A study in Iran explored the prevalence of viral infections (HIV, HCV and HBV) in working children. 27 The study reported that the prevalence among working street children was much higher than in general population. The 4.5% of children were HIV positive, 1.7% were hepatitis B positive and 2.6% hepatitis C positive. The likelihood of being HIV positive among working children of Tehran was increased by factors like having experience in trading sex, having parents who used drugs or parents infected with HCV.

Lastly, one study was a meta-analysis conducted on data of working children in 83 LMIC documented that child labor is significantly and positively related to adolescent mortality, to a population’s nutrition level, and to the presence of infectious diseases. 8

Child labor and mental health

Overall, all studies included, except one, 28 reported that child labor is associated with higher prevalence of mental and/or behavioral disorders. In addition, all studies concluded that child labor is associated with one or more forms of abuse.

A study conducted in Jordan reported a significant difference in the level of coping efficacy and psychosocial health between working non-schooled children, working school children and non-working school children. Non-working school children had a better performance on the SDQ scale. Coping efficacy of working non-schooled children was lower than that of the other groups. 29

A study conducted in Pakistan reported that the prevalence of behavioral problems among working children was 9.8%. Peer problems were most prevalent, followed by problems of conduct. 30 A study from Ethiopia 31 reported that emotional and behavioral disorders are more common among working children. However, another study in Ethiopia 28 reported a lower prevalence of mental/behavioral disorders in child laborers compared to non-working children. The stark difference between these two studies could be due to the explanation provided by Alem et al. , i.e. that their findings could have been tampered by selection bias or healthy worker effect.

A study concerned with child abuse in Bangladesh reported that the prevalence of abuse and child exploitation was widespread. Boys were more exposed. Physical assault was higher towards younger children while other types were higher towards older ones. 32 A similar study conducted in Turkey documented that 62.5% of the child laborers were subjected to abuse at their workplaces; 21.8% physical, 53.6% emotional and 25.2% sexual, 100% were subjected to physical neglect and 28.7% were subjected to emotional neglect. 33

One study focused on sexual assault among working females in Nigeria. They reported that the sexual assault rate was 77.7%. In 38.6% of assault cases, the assailant was a customer. Girls who were younger than 12 years, had no formal education, worked for more than 8 h/day, or had two or more jobs were more likely to experience sexual assault. 34

Main findings of this study

Through a comprehensive systematic review, we conclude that child labor continues to be a major public health challenge. Child labor continues to be negatively associated with the physical and psychological health of children involved. Although no cause–effect relation can be established, as all studies included are cross-sectional, studies documented higher prevalence of different health issues in working children compared to control groups or general population.

This reflects a failure of policies not only to eliminate child labor, but also to make it safer. Although there is a decline in the number of working children, the quality of life of those still engaged in child labor seems to remain low.

Children engaged in labor have poor health status, which could be precipitated or aggravated by labor. Malnutrition and poor growth were reported to be highly prevalent among working children. On top of malnutrition, the nature of labor has its effects on child’s health. Most of the studies adjusted for the daily working hours. Long working hours have been associated with poorer physical outcomes. 18 , 19 , 25 , 26 , 35 It was also reported that the likelihood of being sexually abused increased with increasing working hours. 34 The different types and sectors of labor were found to be associated with different health outcomes as well. 13 , 18 , 24 However, comparing between the different types of labor was not possible due to lack of data.

The majority of studies concluded that child labor is associated with higher prevalence of mental and behavioral disorders, as shown in the results. School attendance, family income and status, daily working hours and likelihood of abuse, in its different forms, were found to be associated with the mental health outcomes in working children. These findings are consistent with previous studies and research frameworks. 36

Child labor subjects children to abuse, whether verbally, physically or sexually which ultimately results in psychological disturbances and behavioral disorders. Moreover, peers and colleagues at work can affect the behavior of children, for example, smoking or drugs. The effects of child labor on psychological health can be long lasting and devastating to the future of children involved.

What is already known on this topic

Previous reviews have described different adverse health impacts of child labor. However, there were no previous attempts to review the collective health impacts of child labor. Working children are subjected to different risk factors, and the impacts of child labor are usually not limited to one illness. Initial evidence of these impacts was published in the 1920s. Since then, an increasing number of studies have used similar methods to assess the health impacts of child labor. Additionally, most of the studies are confined to a single country.

What this study adds

To our knowledge, this is the first review that provides a comprehensive summary of both the physical and mental health impacts of child labor. Working children are subjected to higher levels of physical and mental stress compared to non-working children and adults performing the same type of work. Unfortunately, the results show that these children are at risk of developing short and long-term health complications, physically or mentally.

Though previous systematic reviews conducted on the topic in 19 97 1 and 20 07 8 reported outcomes in different measures, our findings reflect similar severity of the health impacts of child labor. This should be alarming to organizations that set child labor as a target. We have not reviewed the policies targeting child labor here, yet our findings show that regardless of policies in place, further action is needed.

Most of the current literature about child labor follow a cross-sectional design, which although can reflect the health status of working children, it cannot establish cause–effect associations. This in turn affects strategies and policies that target child labor.

In addition, comparing the impacts of different labor types in different countries will provide useful information on how to proceed. Further research following a common approach in assessing child labor impacts in different countries is needed.

Limitations of this study

First, we acknowledge that all systematic reviews are subject to publication bias. Moreover, the databases used might introduce bias as most of the studies indexed by them are from industrialized countries. However, these databases were used for their known quality and to allow reproduction of the data. Finally, despite our recognition of the added value of meta-analytic methods, it was not possible to conduct one due to lack of a common definition for child labor, differences in inclusion and exclusion criteria, different measurements and different outcome measures. Nevertheless, to minimize bias, we employed rigorous search methods including an extensive and comprehensive search, and data extraction by two independent reviewers.

Compliance with ethical standards

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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• developing countries
• mental health
• child labor

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Working Children and Child Labor Situation

Proportion of working children 5 to 17 years old was estimated at 2.8 percent.

The total population of children 5 to 17 years old was estimated at 31.17 million in 2020. This was higher than the total number of Filipino children 5 to 17 years of age registered in 2019 at 30.50 million.

Of the estimated 31.17 million children 5 to 17 years old in 2020, 872 thousand or 2.8 percent were working. This was lower than the proportion of working children 5 to 17 years old in 2019 estimated at 3.4 percent. (Figure 1 and Table A)

Working children was higher among boys compared to the girls. Of the 872 thousand working children in 2020, 582 thousand or 66.7 percent were boys while 291 thousand or 33.3 percent were girls. In 2019, 65.6 percent of the working children were boys while 34.4 percent were girls.

Children belonging to the older age groups (15 to 17 years) were more likely to work than the younger ones. Majority of the working children belonged to age group 15 to 17 years of age accounting for 68.9 percent of the total working children in 2020 and 67.4 percent in 2019. (Table B)

Majority of working children were in agriculture sector

By broad industry group, agriculture sector registered the highest proportion of working children in 2020 at 47.4 percent. The same sector had working children accounted for 44.0 percent of the total working children in 2019. In addition, working children in the services sector was the second largest group accounted for 43.4 percent of the total working children in 2020. Working children in the industry sector consistently accounted for the smallest contributing sector at 9.1 percent. (Figure 2 and Table B)

Majority of the working children worked 20 hours or less per week

Working children were asked on the actual number of hours worked during the reference week. Of the total working children, majority (53.0%) reported to have worked 20 hours or less per week in 2020. This was lower than the proportion of children who worked 20 hours or less per week in 2019 at 69.6 percent. Meanwhile, children who worked for 21 to 40 hours increased to 26.7 percent in 2020 from the 14.8 percent in 2019. (Table B)

Working Children was highest in the Northern Mindanao

Across the regions, CALABARZON with about 4.22 million, National Capital Region (NCR) with nearly 3.35 million, and Central Luzon with around 3.26 million had the largest population of children 5 to 17 years old in 2020. In terms of proportion of working children, Northern Mindanao posted the highest at 7.2 percent in 2020 and 10.0 percent in 2019. (Table A)

In terms of the share of the working children, for every 100 working children in the country in 2020, around 12 (12.4%) resided in Northern Mindanao, 11 (11.1%) resided in Bicol Region, and 9 resided in CALABARZON. On the other hand, Cordillera Autonomous Region (1.2%), NCR (1.6%), Davao Region (2.1%), and Cagayan Valley (2.6%) each had less than 3 working children for every 100 working children in the country. (Figure 3 and Table B)

Child laborers in the country continued to drop in 2020

Child labor referred to in this report were those children 5 to 17 years of age engaged in hazardous work identified in the DOLE Administrative Order No. 149 or long working hours only.

The total number of working children considered engaged in child labor was estimated at 597 thousand in 2020. This magnitude of working children considered engaged in child labor was lower than the 640 thousand child laborers in 2019. (Table C)

In terms of proportion, 68.4 percent of the working children were engaged in child labor in 2020. This was higher than the estimate of 61.2 percent in 2019. (Figure 4 and Table C)

Of the estimated 597 thousand working children engaged in child labor in 2020, 435 thousand or 72.8 percent of them were boys while 162 thousand or 27.2 percent were girls. (Figure 5 and Table D)

Across age groups, the largest proportion of working children considered engaged in child labor were in the ages 15 to 17 years at 73.3 percent in 2020. In the same manner, child laborers aged 15 to 17 years old comprised the largest share in 2019 at 71.2 percent. (Figure 6 and Table D)

Classified by broad industry group in 2020, about 63.6 percent of child laborers were in the agriculture sector, 28.6 percent were in the services sector, and 7.9 percent were in the industry sector. (Figure 7 and Table D)

Thirteen in every 100 child laborers were in Northern Mindanao

Among the 17 regions, Northern Mindanao had the largest share of the country’s child laborers. For every 100 child laborers in the country in 2020, 13 (13.1%) were from Northern Mindanao, followed by Bicol Region with around 9 (9.2%) child laborers. Cordillera Administrative Region had the lowest share of child laborers at 1.6 percent followed by NCR at 1.9 percent and Davao Region at 2.2 percent in 2020. (Figure 8 and Table D)

 The population of children aged 5 to 17 years old in 2020 was estimated at 31.17 million. This was higher than the total number of Filipino children 5 to 17 years of age in 2019 at 30.50 million.

 Working children in 2020 were estimated at 2.8 percent of the 31.17 million children 5 to 17 years old. This was lower than the registered working children in 2019 at 3.4 percent.

 In terms of the distribution of working children by broad industry group, agriculture sector remained dominant in 2020, followed by services sector, while industry sector remained the lowest contributor to the total working children.

 Of the 872 thousand working children in 2020, 597 thousand or 68.4 percent were child laborers. Of these estimated child laborers, 73.3 percent were in age group 15 to 17 years. Moreover, 63.6 percent of the 597 thousand child laborers were found in the agriculture sector.

DENNIS S. MAPA, Ph.D. Undersecretary National Statistician and Civil Registrar General

Related Contents

Employment rate in january 2024 was estimated at 95.5 percent, press conference on the january 2024 labor force survey (preliminary) results, unemployment rate in december 2023 was estimated at 3.1 percent.

Child Labor in the Philippines

PHILIPPINES – A child miner pulls an improvised cart made from a gasoline container carrying heavy rocks. Child laborers in mines are at risk of severe injury and death, and face long-term health problems caused by back-breaking labor, constant exposure to dust and chemicals, and most of all mercury poisoning.

Child labor persists side by side with chronic poverty in the Philippines. While programs to address child labor by the government, international agencies and civil society groups are in place, child labor is still worsening. Based on the latest official count as of 2011, there are 3.2 million child laborers who are mostly in hazardous work, out of the 5.5 million children at work.[1]

The problem of child labor lies deeply in the structural problems of the society, heavily connected to deeply rooted poverty and continuous non-inclusive growth in the economy. Other push factors of child labor include land-grabbing, low family income, lack of regular and decent jobs with living wages for parents, and low awareness on rights of children among poor families. This is aggravated as businesses and companies continue to exploit child laborers through lower wages, lack of benefits and protection, and weak government mechanisms and instruments to combat the employment of children. Child laborers are forced to leave their formal education and focus on their work, leaving them more vulnerable to abuses, violations and little chance and opportunity to have a better future.

BUKIDNON – People in Don Carlos, Bukidnon depend mainly on agriculture and plantation work. Child laborers in sugarcane estates work in weeding, harvesting and fetching of water.

The number of children working in hazardous industries stands at 2.99 million (2011), an increase from 2.2 million in 1995. Child labor is prevalent in rural areas, particularly in mining sites and in agricultural plantations (sugarcane, banana, palm oil). A study conducted by EILER indicates that child labor in the country has worsened as reflected in:

Longer working hours of children, multiple jobs juggled by child laborers, and exposure to social hazards (such as use of illegal drugs) and occupational health and safety hazards.

One out of five households surveyed for the study showed incidence of child labor.

High tendency for child laborers to stop schooling. Child laborers normally work for an average of ten hours daily for a tiny fraction of the prevailing minimum wage and extreme cases of 24-hour shift in mining, even as the magnitude of their work is comparable to those of adults.

Ninety-six percent (96%) of households surveyed were living below the poverty thresholds of their region and have an average monthly family income of P1,000 – P3,000 (highest incidence of child labor at 40%).

Seventy-seven percent (77%) of households surveyed do not own land and has no accessibility to land.

The children and their families have no means to escape the vicious cycle of generational poverty as child laborers work the same kind of low-income, labor-intensive jobs and generate just enough income to eat and work the next day. Unable to finish basic education, they are unable to apply to stable work which demands technical skills they do not have.

Children working in hazardous industries are exposed to the dangers and perils of heavy physical work, exposure to chemicals and unsafe working conditions. At their tender age, these children are deprived of their right to education, right against economic exploitation and right to have everything they need to have a better future.

DAVAO DEL NORTE – Child laborers in banana plantations often serve as fruiters, harvesters, haulers, loaders, and uprooters. Over time, the children have sustained injuries from weeding, harvesting, bagging and de-leafing work.

End poverty. End child labor.

November 20, 2014 marked the 25th year since the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of Child (CRC). Throughout the years, there have been significant achievements on upholding the rights of children worldwide, but much has to be done to address the root causes of child labour and build actions to end its worst forms.

The Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research (EILER) with support from the European Union under the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) implemented “Bata Balik-Eskwela: Community-based Approach in Combating Child Labor in Hazardous Industries in Mining and Plantations” from 2013 to 2016 to help curb child labor in Caraga Region, Bukidnon, Camarines Norte, Davao Del Norte, Compostela Valley and Negros Occidental through education and building community-based support network for child laborers and their families.

Read  Bittersweet: Combatting Child Labour on the Sugarcane Plantations in the Philippines   from the European Commission website.

Watch  “Dula-anan” (2016) video documentary on the campaign to end child labor and the Bata Balik-Eskwela Program.

COMPOSTELA VALLEY – Beneficiaries of Bata Balik-Eskwela Program in Southeastern region of the Philippines start their graduation ceremony at the open court of their rural community (on top of Mt. Diwalwal) with a prayer.

The project aimed to reintegrate child laborers to formal education through the establishment of Learning Centers, creation of a community-based support system and advocating children’s rights. It had three (3) components namely Bata Balik-Eskwela Program (BBEP), Community-based Support Network Program (CBSP) and Public Awareness and Advocacy Program (PAAP).

Through the project and in cooperation with the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights , Institute for Occupational Health and Safety Development , Rural Missionaries of the Philippines Northern Mindanao Sub-region , and community organizations, six (6) Learning Centers were established to provide appropriate curriculum and school materials to the beneficiaries. At the end of the project, a total of 618 children enrolled in five (5) batches at each learning center and 518 of them completed the program.

[1] 2011 Survey on Children, National Statistics Office. http://web0.psa.gov.ph/content/number-working-children-5-17-years-old-estimated-55-million-preliminary-results-2011-survey

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The Impact of Productive Assets and Training on Child Labor in the Philippines

Around the world, 152 million children are engaged in child labor, and in the Philippines many of the children working illegally are in occupations that pose a threat to their health and safety. Because poverty is considered to be the root cause of child labor, policymakers have aimed to reduce child labor by improving the economic welfare of poor households that are using or vulnerable to using child labor. In the Philippines, an IPA research team worked with the government to test whether providing poor households with a one-time productive asset transfer equivalent to US$518, along with a short business training, improved economic well-being and reduced in child labor. Preliminary results indicate that the program increased household business activity, food security, and some measures of child welfare, but it also led to a modest increase in child labor from family-based economic activities, specifically for children who had not worked before.  

Policy Issue

The elimination of child labor in all its forms is one of the measurable targets for the UN Sustainable Development Goal 8: “Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all.” Widespread child labor in low-income countries is thought to damper future economic growth through its negative impact on child development. Child labor also depresses economic growth by discouraging the adoption of skill-intensive technologies, while lowering wages in low-skill sectors. Because poverty is considered the root cause of child labor, policymakers have aimed to reduce child labor by improving the economic welfare of poor households. This study aimed to shed light on whether sustainable livelihoods promotion can stop child labor where it already exists, which many other interventions have failed to do, and prevent it from occurring in households that are vulnerable to using child labor.

Context of the Evaluation

Despite strong economic progress over the last several decades, one in five Filipino families remain below the poverty line, and a 2011 study found 2.1 million Filipino children were engaged in unlawful child labor. Sixty-two percent worked in hazardous labor activities where chemical, physical, and biological hazards exist. 1

The Philippine government is a global leader in the discussion of anti-child labor policies through the Philippine Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) Kabuhayan Para sa Magulang ng Batang Manggagawa (KASAMA) Program. This program provides in-kind transfers of equipment, tools, and/or raw materials and trainings to parents of child laborers in an effort to promote sustainable, alternative forms of income that replace the family’s use of child labor.

This study was conducted in five regions of the Philippine island of Luzon. Two of these regions, Bicol and Central Luzon, account for more than 1 in 5 of all child laborers in the Philippines. 2  Among the families in the study, 73 percent of children living in treated households were child laborers, and these families lived on less than $1.30 per person per day on average.

Details of the Intervention

Innovations for Poverty Action worked with researchers to test the impact of the KASAMA program on child labor, economic activity, household income, and consumption.

The program offered households a productive asset along with a short business training and was designed to support families in moving to more entrepreneurial activities and sustainable livelihoods. Potential beneficiaries were drawn from existing government lists of vulnerable families with children and families with child laborers.

One-hundred and sixty-four communities (barangays) across five regions of Luzon were randomly assigned to one of two groups:

• Program group:   Households in 82 communities could access an asset such as livestock, farming tools, inventory for vending snacks, or materials for producing home goods (such as candles or curtains) worth PHP10,000 (USD$518 Purchasing Power Parity). The program also included three one-day trainings designed to provide assistance on developing a business plan, bookkeeping, marketing and financial literacy. The training also included a brief orientation on child labor: how it is defined legally in the Philippines and how the government is engaging communities to reduce child labor.  Households were not told the program was designed to reduce child labor, however. (1,148 households)
• Comparison group: This group was comprised of 82 communities who did not receive the intervention. (1,148 households)

Researchers measured impacts of the program approximately 18 months after it started.

Results and Policy Lessons

Overall, households offered the program had better food security and improvements in some measures of child welfare (e.g., life satisfaction), but it also led to a modest increase in the number of children who worked. The increase in child labor appears to be driven by the increase in work opportunities brought on by the family businesses.

Livelihoods : Households assigned to receive the program were more likely to start new businesses and preserve existing businesses.

• Households offered the program were 9 percentage points more likely to report the presence of either an agricultural or non-agricultural family firm, an 11 percent increase over comparison households.
• These households reported 0.26 new non-farm enterprises over the study period (a 61 percent increase over the comparison group).  Overall, households offered the program have 0.36 more non-farm enterprises at follow-up compared to the comparison group.  Because this 0.36 is bigger than the number of new non-farm enterprises, we can infer that the program helped some existing enterprises survive.
• The most common assets transferred were for the creation or expansion of small convenience stores (“sari-sari ” stores ) .
• Flexibility in asset choice appeared important to beneficiaries according to qualitative interviews with frequent reports of experimentation in different enterprises to find what worked best for the household and some suggestion that the best asset for one household was not necessarily the best asset for another household, even in the same community.

Economic well-being:  Household food security improves:

• Adults and children less than age 14 report not having to cut meals, being able to eat preferred food options, and not needing to borrow food or purchase food on credit.

Child labor: There was no overall effect on primary or secondary measures of child labor.

• For children not involved in child labor at baseline, employment in family based economic activities increases by 10 percentage points, a 16 percent increase over the comparison group.  Economic activity rates increased for this group overall by 8.4 percentage points or 13 percent.
• For children already involved in child labor at baseline, the program seemed to have little effect on their time allocation.
• There is no evidence to suggest that increasing the value of the productive asset transfer would change the child labor findings, although that could be subject to further study.

Child welfare: Child welfare increased on average. 3  This appears to be driven largely by changes in life satisfaction and is concentrated among children already in child labor before the program started. These improvements in welfare for children who were laborers before the program began seems to again be due to improvements in life satisfaction. Children were more likely to report that they were thriving and had higher scores on the Student’s Life Satisfaction Survey. For children not in child labor before the program, the main outcome in which they show improvements in welfare is that they were less likely to report they were suffering. It is worth noting that children in homes that already had businesses before the program was offered did not experience these gains in child welfare and life satisfaction, which could be due to the increase in work in this group.

Policy Lessons

Overall, these findings raise questions about the value of providing a productive asset transfer to families in order to reduce child labor. Yet they also highlight the value of KASAMA in ameliorating poverty, increasing food security, and improving very poor children’s life satisfaction.

This highlights one of the important––and previously unknown–– tensions in using a sustainable livelihood program to combat child labor.  Families with child labor present are amongst the poorest and most disadvantaged, and livelihood support can make them less impoverished (as KASAMA has done).  However, when introducing a new enterprise into a household, available laborers are needed to work in the new enterprise.  In this context, there was not a large surplus of prime-age adult labor.  Poor families were working hard to make ends meet, so the addition of a new economic activity or expanding an existing activity brought in more marginal workers, which were often children and the aged (unreported above, elder women increased their economic activity by 48 percent from being offered the program).  Thus, it is critical to be clear on the goals of a sustainable livelihood program.  If the goal is to improve the lives of families with child labor, then KASAMA was an impressive success. However, if the goal was to eliminate child labor in beneficiary families, then the program was not successful in reaching that goal and other approaches should be considered and tested.

Funding for this project was provided by the United States Department of Labor.

This material does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the United States Department of Labor, nor does the mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the United States Government.

[1] “Philippines - 2011 Survey on Children 5 to 17 Years Old - Final Report,” Report, February 1, 2014. p. 8  http://www.ilo.org/ipec/Informationresources/WCMS_IPEC_PUB_26815/lang--en/index.htm.

[2] “Philippines - 2011 Survey on Children 5 to 17 Years Old - Final Report,” p. 56.

[3] The primary life satisfaction metric is Cantril’s (1965) Ladder which researchers collected for each child 10-17 in the household. The respondent provided a scaled response of their life quality ranging between 0 to 10, and researchers examine the impact of KASAMA on the child’s raw score and on indicators consistent with how the Gallop Organization uses Cantril’s Ladder, creating indicators by splitting the responses into thriving (7+) and suffering (4-).

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Child Labour in the Philippines: Determinants and Effects

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Child Labor and Forced Labor Reports

Philippines.

Moderate Advancement

In 2022, the Philippines made moderate advancement in efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor. The government enacted the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act to hold private sector entities responsible for addressing human trafficking. It also enacted the Anti-Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children and Anti-Child Sexual Abuse or Exploitation Materials Act, which, among other things, punishes perpetrators of online sexual abuse of children and provides penalties for the production, distribution, possession, and provision of access to child sexual abuse or exploitation materials. In addition, the government launched a plan to improve the quality and delivery of education, address access gaps, and build resilience of learners. However, children in the Philippines are subjected to the worst forms of child labor, including commercial sexual exploitation, sometimes as a result of human trafficking. Children also perform dangerous tasks in agriculture and gold mining. The minimum age for work of 15 is lower than the compulsory education age of 18, making children ages 15 through 17 vulnerable to child labor. Social programs also do not sufficiently support child victims of online sexual exploitation, and enforcement of child labor laws remains a challenge throughout the country due to limited personnel and financial resources.

Table 1 provides key indicators on children’s work and education in the Philippines.

Source for primary completion rate: Data from 2021, published by UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2023. (1) Source for all other data: International Labor Organization's analysis of statistics from Labour Force Survey (LFS), 2021. (2)

Based on a review of available information, Table 2 provides an overview of children’s work by sector and activity.

† Determined by national law or regulation as hazardous and, as such, relevant to Article 3(d) of ILO C. 182. ‡ Child labor understood as the worst forms of child labor per se under Article 3(a)–(c) of ILO C. 182.

Philippine children are victims of online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC), in which children perform sex acts at the direction of paying foreigners and local Filipinos for live internet broadcasts that take place in small internet cafes, private homes, or windowless buildings sometimes referred to as “cybersex dens.” (3,12,17,18,21-26) The sector is highly profitable and growing due to increasing internet connectivity, widespread English language literacy, gaps in existing legislation and financial systems, and high international demand. (26) According to the latest available information published in 2021, 20 percent of internet-using children between the ages of 12 and 17 in the Philippines have been subjected to OSAEC. (14,18,25-27) Children from rural communities, primarily girls, are also subjected to trafficking domestically in urban centers and tourist destinations for the purposes of domestic work and commercial sexual exploitation. (4,18,21) Children in disaster-affected areas are targeted for sex trafficking, domestic servitude, and other forms of forced labor. As the Philippines is vulnerable to natural disasters including typhoons, tsunamis, volcanic activity, droughts, and erosion—and models indicate that the frequency and scale of these disasters will escalate in the coming years—an increasing number of children may be exposed to child labor. (26,28,29) In addition, perpetrators of child trafficking use student and intern exchange programs, use fake childcare positions, and take advantage of porous maritime borders to facilitate the exploitation of children. (21)

The recruitment and use of children by non-state armed groups, primarily the New People's Army and Dawla Islamiyah, remains a concern in the country. These children are used in both combat and non-combat roles, including as supply officers, medics, and cooks, and for running errands. (14,30,31) In addition, the Islamic State's affiliated groups reportedly have subjected women and girls to sexual slavery. (21) Despite the new administration's commitment to rehabilitate drug users and address the root causes of drug abuse in the country, lethal clashes between civilians and law enforcement officials continue, which resulted in the death of 14 children during the last 6 months of the reporting period. (14,32) Children are used in drug trafficking as pushers, possessors, employees at "drug dens," and cultivators. (14)

Although the Constitution establishes free, compulsory education through age 18, unofficial school-related fees, such as for school uniforms, are prohibitive for some families. Other barriers to education include substandard infrastructure, which makes traveling and access to schools challenging, especially for children in rural areas, and architectural barriers that pose challenges for children with disabilities. (24)

The Philippines has ratified all key international conventions concerning child labor (Table 3).

The government has established laws and regulations related to child labor (Table 4). However, gaps exist in the Philippines' legal framework to adequately protect children from the worst forms of child labor, including a minimum age for work that is below the compulsory education age.

* Country has no conscription (45) ‡ Age calculated based on available information (46,48)

In 2022, the government enacted the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2022, which imposes requirements and responsibilities on a multitude of private sector entities—including internet intermediaries, tourism enterprises, and financial intermediaries—to address and prevent trafficking in persons, including children. The act also identifies penalties for private sector entities if they are found in violation of the requirements. (14,40) Additionally, the Anti-Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children and Anti-Child Sexual Abuse or Exploitation Materials Act became law during the reporting period. This act provides additional protection for children against digital sexual abuse and exploitation. (14,43,49,50) As the minimum age for work is lower than the compulsory education age in the Philippines, children may be encouraged to leave school before the completion of compulsory education. (24,33-35,46)

The government has established institutional mechanisms for the enforcement of laws and regulations on child labor (Table 5). However, gaps exist within the authority of enforcement agencies that may hinder adequate enforcement of their child labor laws.

Labor Law Enforcement

In 2022, labor law enforcement agencies in the Philippines took actions to address child labor (Table 6). However, gaps exist within the operations of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) that may hinder adequate labor law enforcement, including insufficient financial and human resource allocation to the labor law inspectorate.

Research indicates that the Philippines does not have an adequate number of labor inspectors to carry out their mandated duties. (14,66,67) A lack of funding, equipment, and data further prevents the labor inspectorate from conducting inspections in all provinces and in the informal sector. (14) The Bureau of Working Conditions acknowledged that more specialized training on child labor is needed to enhance labor inspectors' ability to readily identify and act on child labor situations. (3,13)

Enforcement of child labor protections for children employed in the informal sector and in small and medium-sized enterprises, particularly in agriculture and fishing, falls to DOLE, which has in the past lacked financial and human resources. (3,9,13,18,24) The Rescue the Child Laborers Quick Action Teams are permitted to conduct unannounced compliance visits to video karaoke bars, massage parlors, saunas and bathhouses, and farms, but they are not authorized to conduct visits to private homes to search for underage child domestic workers. However, there are mechanisms available to barangay (neighborhood level) officials to permit them to investigate domestic work-related complaints. (3,9,13,14,64)

Criminal Law Enforcement

In 2022, criminal law enforcement agencies in the Philippines took actions to address child labor (Table 7). However, gaps exist within the Philippine judicial system that may hinder adequate criminal law enforcement, including inefficiencies in court proceedings, which prevent victims from obtaining justice and restitution.

The Philippine National Police continued to refer children involved in drug trafficking to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), after which they were placed in either juvenile detention centers or Houses of Hope, which, in practice, closely resemble detention centers. (9,24,68) In 2022, police killed a 17-year old suspect after he allegedly drew a weapon during a buy-bust police operation. (69,70) The Department of Justice claimed that it would review over 6,000 killings committed during drug war-related police operations, but the process has been slow and ineffective, with only 52 cases filed in the courts and only 5 convictions of offending police officers. (64)

During the reporting period, officials from law enforcement, courts, and other parts of the government participated in trainings related to OSAEC and trafficking in persons. (14) Philippine law allows judges to award civil compensation to human trafficking survivors based on damages arising from being trafficked, but survivors rarely receive this restitution since perpetrators often lack sufficient assets to pay. However, in cases for which perpetrators are financially able to pay this penalty, many are able to evade doing so due to ineffective, slow court procedures. (18,28,64) Due to the high volume of cybercrime tips related to child sexual exploitation received by the Office of Cybercrime each month, there is the need for additional law enforcement personnel, funds for operations, and equipment for forensic analysis of digital evidence. (24,28) Slow-moving courts, the need for additional training on handling digital evidence, a lack of understanding regarding application of the legal framework to cases, and too few prosecutors also hindered the effective and timely prosecution of human trafficking crimes. (12,18,22,28) Law enforcement agencies raised concerns about a lack of resources, including staff and a centralized database for tracking illegal recruitment and human trafficking. This lack of resources impedes their ability to act quickly on complaints of child labor, including those involving OSAEC, through conducting investigations and initiating prosecutions. (17,28,64)

The government has established a key mechanism to coordinate its efforts to address child labor (Table 8).

During the reporting period, the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking established the National Coordination Center Against OSAEC under the DSWD. The center will develop and implement programs to prevent children from being victimized by online and commercial sexual exploitation, and to provide protective services to and reintegrate into society survivors of the crime. (14,50)

The government has established policies that are consistent with relevant international standards on child labor (Table 9).

† Policy was approved during the reporting period. ‡ The government had other policies that may have addressed child labor issues or had an impact on child labor. (38,92,93)

During the reporting period, the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking completed an assessment of the Third National Strategic Action Plan Against Trafficking, which the council utilized to finalize the fourth strategic action plan. (14)

In 2022, the government funded and participated in programs that include the goal of eliminating or preventing child labor (Table 10). However, gaps exist in these social programs, including a lack of adequate services for survivors of OSAEC.

For information about USDOL’s projects to address child labor around the world, visit https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/ilab-project-page-search

† Program is funded by the Government of the Philippines. ‡ The government had other social programs that may have included the goal of eliminating or preventing child labor. (106,107)

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) continued to coordinate with DSWD when dealing with children allegedly involved in drug trafficking. From July 2016 to October 2022, Philippine law enforcement arrested 4,679 minors. (4,14) PDEA policy is to turn children over within 8 hours of their arrest to "Houses of Hope" ( Bahay ng Pag-asa ), which are rehabilitation and skills training centers for children in trouble with the law. (4,14,108) Previous reports indicate that although there is an accreditation process for these facilities administered by the federal Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council, only a small number of Houses of Hope have met the qualifications, which allows for corruption, maltreatment of residents, and failure to provide quality rehabilitative services. Research from previous years showed that many Houses of Hope essentially operated as youth detention centers, in which some children were subjected to physical and emotional abuse, deprived of liberty, and forced into overcrowded and unhygienic cells. (24,51,108,109) According to the Juvenile Justice Welfare Council, council employees regularly visited the centers during the reporting period to ensure compliance with set standards. Their reports note inadequate food and clothing, inadequate staffing, limited programs and services, prolonged stays in the center, typhoon damage, and absence of psychologists in the centers. (14)

DSWD works in consultation with parents and community leaders to determine how best to assist children suspected of being involved in the drug trade; however, DSWD does not have programs specifically designed to increase protections for or assistance to children engaged in drug trafficking. DSWD also lacks programming to address the heightened vulnerability of children impacted by the death of familial breadwinners in the drug war. (9,110) In addition, although some specialized resources exist to assist victims of human trafficking, the Philippines lacked sufficient programs to care for and rehabilitate children who have been victims of OSAEC. (25)

Based on the reporting above, suggested actions are identified that would advance the elimination of child labor in the Philippines (Table 11).

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Northeastern researcher exposes child labor trafficking as a hidden crime after investigating 132 victims

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Children trafficked for their labor often work in public view in restaurants, laundromats, agricultural fields and water parks, but little has been known about their plight.  

A new study co-authored by Northeastern University professor Amy Farrell provides insights about these children, those who traffic them and what makes children vulnerable to dangerous work — and conditions that too often rob them of a chance for an education, and leave them exhausted, hungry and sometimes injured.

Farrell, the director of Northeastern’s School of Criminology and Criminal Justice , answered questions from Northeastern Global News about what researchers discovered in their investigation of 132 victims, as well as their recommendations for a better future for trafficked children.

The research says the average age of victims you studied was 14. Where do trafficked children work?

It’s shocking how many different industries where we found children trafficked for their labor. They are all around us. They are on our roofs, they are in our gardens doing landscaping.

They work cleaning dentists’ offices, for storage facilities and in restaurants, agriculture and poultry farms. They work in waterparks, hotels and in private homes providing child care and domestic labor.

There was another subset of labor in which children were trafficked called forced criminality. This is a situation where kids work in illicit economies — panhandling, organized theft and drug cultivation, packing and distribution. 

When people think about child trafficking of children, they commonly think about sex trafficking. That’s not because 90% of the human trafficking that is identified by the police is for sex trafficking, but because that’s where most of the public awareness is. 

Child labor trafficking remains very hidden.

We often think of child labor trafficking as a migrant issue. But 42% of the child victims in your study were American. What makes both U.S. and foreign-born children susceptible to trafficking?

Poverty and housing instability are really big factors. 

We find minors in situations where they’re working because they need to bring money into the family or because they’ve left their family and are unhoused and living with a group of other minors who are unhoused. 

Housing is super expensive and hard to navigate for young people who often cannot independently secure housing. Young people need to survive.

In our data, we’ve also seen cases of familial trafficking where a parent or guardian traffics kids into family businesses or into doing childcare and domestic labor in the home.

We’ve had situations where sponsors of unaccompanied minors were coercing children into work — sometimes overtly. Other times economic pressure in the sponsor’s household forced young people into jobs, in addition to trying to go to school. 

There are some well-documented child labor trafficking cases where minors got sponsored out to nefarious actors who pretend they are going to take care of these kids and end up exploiting them. 

Sponsors are needed to handle the influx of unaccompanied minors into the U.S., but much more accountability and oversight of sponsor programs are needed.

Family disruption is another huge piece of this. Lots and lots of young people, particularly those who are U.S. citizens, come from families with histories with the child welfare system. 

Those kids, both girls and boys, are particularly vulnerable to both sex and labor trafficking. In some ways, it’s about who gets to them first.

What motivates child labor traffickers?

It’s just about extracting money from them. They’re throwaway kids — no one cares about them. They are disposable.

They are going to labor until they run away, get hurt or maybe get arrested. And then there will be more kids right behind them to take their place.

There’s not a lot of care to even be sure that they can continue to be exploited because they can so easily be replaced by someone else. So if they get hurt, they don’t get medical care. 

It’s really heartbreaking.

If sounds as if it’s very difficult to leave child labor trafficking situations

They leave with nothing on their back — no money but sometimes a lot of debt to smugglers or others who have loaned them money or provided housing. The reliance on traffickers to meet basic needs is one of the mechanisms that traffickers use to keep kids laboring.

One of the victims we studied came to the U.S. from Guatemala with a group of teenagers as young as 14 or 15, many of whom were exploited in an egg farm.

Although the teen we studied avoided the exploitative farming situation, he ended up being exploited by someone else who had portrayed themselves as a good Samaritan willing to take him in. He was eventually trafficked to a woodworking factory.

It’s a really difficult situation, because even when young people get away from a trafficking situation, they are still vulnerable to being abused or re-trafficked by others.

When do labor abuse issues become child labor trafficking violations?

Labor abuses become trafficking crimes when a person is coerced, defrauded or forced into laboring.

Unlike sex trafficking, where proving force, fraud and coercion are not required for children under the age of 18, these elements are required to prove child labor trafficking. 

A major finding of this study is that coercion was omnipresent in situations where adults are providing things for kids to meet their daily needs. 

For example, adults trafficking child laborers often provided young people with a place to stay, clothes or food. In other cases, adults provide love or acceptance to young people who are seeking their approval and care. 

Fraud was another issue, even for children. People pay money to come to the United States and stay in unsafe jobs to pay off their debts or the debts of their family.

Is child labor trafficking getting worse?

We don’t know because we lack comprehensive data. We really have no way of knowing what child trafficking was like 10 years ago in comparison to what it’s like today.

This study, which was funded by the National Institute of Justice, is one of the first to lay out the kinds of conditions under which a wide cross section of children experience victimization.

Here in Boston we are undergoing a migration crisis where we have lots of families coming into Massachusetts who are not able to work or find stable housing.

That is a situation that is ripe for exploitation of both adults and minors.

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What can be done to stop child labor trafficking?

We’re not saying kids shouldn’t work. We’re not saying foreign national kids shouldn’t work. Work is often a very helpful and developmentally appropriate activity for young people. What we’re saying is kids need to work in situations where they won’t be harmed. 

One of our recommendations is that if kids experience a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act or any of the existing wage, hour and work protections, coercion should be assumed if there’s an adult involved. More attention is needed to young people laboring in situations where there is clear labor abuse.

Police and child welfare agencies have a role to prevent trafficking, but the people who may be in the best position to identify child labor violations are inspectors and regulators who ensure workplaces across a variety of industries are safe. 

.It is critically important that legal advocates and worker rights organizations are provided with resources to help serve young people who are in precarious situations of workplace abuse.  

We also recommend that vocational programs be expanded to provide teenagers with valuable skills in safe, lawful employment and alternative housing be funded for minors to reduce their vulnerability to dangerous forms of illegal employment.

Do you think efforts by states seeking to roll back child labor protections are ill-informed?

It’s important for young people to have developmentally appropriate opportunities to work.

But we don’t want young people working 12 hours overnight at a factory making potato chips or dog food and falling asleep in school — then dropping out of school and continuing to work at the dog food factory, where what they do is dangerous.

When communities face economic need and housing insecurity that drive young people into dangerous jobs, it is time to step back and ensure we have shored up the safety nets that help children and families meet basic needs without children laboring in exploitative situations.  

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Advancing social justice, promoting decent work ILO is a specialized agency of the United Nations

Child labour remains a persistent problem in the world today. It is a complex phenomenon as not all work done by children can be regarded as child labour . A distinction must be made between child labour, on the one hand, and children’s activities considered part of a natural socialisation process, on the other hand. Children in child labour are those entering the labour market, or those taking on too much work and too many duties at too early an age.

Numbers on the extent, characteristics and determinants of child labour are provided by the Research and Evaluation Unit of the ILO’s Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work Branch (FUNDAMENTALS). FUNDAMENTALS assists countries in the collection, documentation, processing and analysis of child labour statistics and provides manuals, tools and training materials accordingly.

Main figures on child labour

Latest global estimates on child labour.

Child Labour: Global estimates 2020, trends and the road forward

This report takes stock of where we stand in the global effort to end child labour and describes the scale and key characteristics of child labour today, and changes over time. What the report tells us is alarming. Global progress against child labour has stalled for the first time since we began producing global estimates two decades ago. These results constitute an important reality check in meeting the international commitment to end child labour by 2025. If we do not muster the will and resources to act now on an unprecedented scale, the timeline for ending child labour will stretch many years into the future.

• Full report (pdf)
• Executive Summary (pdf)
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Methodology of the 2020 Global Estimates of Child Labour (pdf)

Country reports

• Rapid assessment on child labour in agriculture in Kosovo
• Nepal Child Labour Report 2021
• Viet Nam National Child Labour Survey 2018
• Rapid Assessment on Child Domestic Work in Myanmar

Research reports

• Meta-analysis of the effects of interventions on child labour
• Understanding informality and child labour in sub-Saharan Africa
• Understanding and addressing child labour across the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus
• Issue paper on child labour and climate change

Manuals and guidelines

• Ethical guidelines for research on child labour
• Model questionnaire for child labour modular surveys
• Model questionnaire for child labour stand-alone surveys

ICLS and child labour

The International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) is the authoritative body to set global standards in labour statistics. Its 18th session in 2008, adopted the Resolution concerning statistics on child labour setting standards for child labour statistics. In 2018, the 20th ICLS adopted amendments to the 2008 Resolution concerning statistics on child labour to harmonize it with the international statistical standards on work and employment adopted by the 19th ICLS (2013). The ICLS resolution aims to set standards for the collection, compilation and analysis of national child labour statistics, to guide countries in updating their existing statistical system in this field or to establish such a system. The standards should also help to facilitate the international comparability of child labour statistics by minimizing methodological differences across countries.

• Resolution to amend the 18th ICLS resolutions concerning statistics of child labour - 20th ICLS 2018
• Report III - Child labour statistics - 18th ICLS 2008

Child Tax Benefits and Labor Supply: Evidence from California

The largest tax-based social welfare programs in the US limit their benefits to taxpayers with labor market income. Eliminating these work requirements would better target transfers to the neediest families but risks attenuating tax-based incentives to work. We study changes in labor force participation from the elimination of a work requirement in a tax credit for parents of young children, drawing on quasi-random variation in birth timing and administrative tax records. To do so, we develop and implement a novel approach for selecting an empirical specification to maximize the precision of our estimate. The unique design of the policy along with its subsequent reform allow us to isolate taxpayers' sensitivity to conditioning child tax benefits on work -- the parameter at the center of recent debates about the labor supply consequences of reforming federal tax policy for children. We estimate that eliminating the work requirement causes very few mothers to exit the labor force, with a 95% confidence interval excluding labor supply reductions of one-third of a percentage point or greater. Our results suggest expanding tax benefits for low-income children need not meaningfully reduce labor force participation.

For helpful comments and suggestions, we thank Connor Dowd, Joe Doyle, Kye Lippold, David Lee, Zhuan Pei, and seminar participants at the Upjohn Institute, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Rutgers University. Any taxpayer data used in this research was kept in a secured IRS data repository, and all results have been reviewed to ensure that no confidential information is disclosed. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Treasury Department or of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

MARC RIS BibTeΧ

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Key facts about moms in the U.S.

The experience of being a mom in the United States has changed over the last few decades as more women attend college , delay motherhood and stay in the labor force after their children are born . Still, working mothers typically take on more caregiving responsibilities at home than fathers do – and this was especially true during the coronavirus pandemic .

For Mother’s Day, here’s a snapshot of what motherhood looks like in the U.S. today, drawn from government data and Pew Research Center surveys.

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis ahead of Mother’s Day 2023 to provide a snapshot of the demographics and experiences of mothers in the United States. The analysis is based on government data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ American Time Use Survey , as well as survey data from the Center. Links to the methodology and questions of Center surveys and analyses can be found in the text of the analysis.

White, Black and Asian adults include only those who are not Hispanic and identify as only one race. Hispanics are of any race.

Moms’ average age at first birth in the U.S. has ticked up steadily over the last decade. In 2021, the average woman gave birth for the first time at 27.3 years old, according to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This was up from 2011, when the average mom was 25.6 at the birth of her first child.

While mothers’ average age at first birth has risen across racial and ethnic groups, some differences exist among them. In 2021, Black and Hispanic moms, on average, were younger at the birth of their first child (25.5 years for both groups) than White (28.1) and Asian moms (31.2). American Indian or Alaska Native first-time mothers were the youngest, on average (23.9).

The number of children women in the U.S. have in their lifetime has declined over time, Census Bureau data shows. In the late 1970s, women at the end of their childbearing years (ages 40 to 44) had, on average, more than three children. In 2020, women had about two children on average – a number that has been fairly stable for more than two decades . Most of this decline occurred between 1976 and the mid-1990s.

Women with more education have fewer children on average in their lifetimes. For instance, between 1976 and 2022, women ages 40 to 44 with at least a bachelor’s degree had an average of 1.75 children, while women who do not have a high school diploma had, on average, 2.99 children.

Moms spend more time with their children than dads do – especially when their children are young, data from the 2021 American Time Use Survey shows . During waking hours, mothers with children under 6 spent 7.5 hours on child care per day on average, while dads spent 5.3 hours.

While with their young children, these moms spent 2.7 hours per day on caregiving tasks. Fathers spent 1.6 hours per day on caregiving activities.

Moms with children ages 6 to 12 reported spending an average of 5.7 hours per day on child care, while dads logged 4.2 hours. Mothers with teens ages 13 to 17 also spent more time doing this than fathers did (3.8 hours vs. 3 hours).

In opposite-sex couples, mothers report taking on more child care responsibilities than their spouse or partner does, while fathers are more likely to say these tasks are split about equally, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted fall 2022 .

Among moms who are married to or living with a partner, majorities with children under 18 say they do more when it comes to managing their children’s schedules and activities (78%) and providing comfort or emotional support to their children (58%). A majority (65%) of moms with school-age kids say they do more than their partner to help their children with homework or other school assignments. And 57% of moms with children under 5 say they do more to meet their children’s basic needs, such as feeding, bathing or changing diapers.

Consistent with  past surveys , perceptions of who takes on more child care responsibilities differ by gender among married and cohabiting parents in opposite-sex relationships.

Previous research has found that working mothers are more likely to  carry greater household  and  caregiving loads , and many of the duties mothers take on in family life became even more  difficult in the COVID-19 pandemic .

Moms are more likely than dads to say being a parent is harder than they expected, the fall 2022 survey found. Around two-thirds of mothers (66%) and a smaller majority of fathers (58%) say being a parent is a lot or somewhat harder than they thought it would be. That includes 30% of moms and 20% of dads who say it is a lot harder than they expected.

Larger shares of moms than dads also say they find being a parent tiring (47% vs. 34%) and stressful (33% vs. 24%) all or most of the time.

The vast majority of mothers find parenting enjoyable and rewarding, the same survey found. Overall, 83% of moms say that being a parent is enjoyable for them most (56%) or all of the time (27%). Eight-in-ten moms say being a parent is rewarding most or all of the time, with 37% saying this is the case all of the time.

Being a parent is a key part of most moms’ personal identity, according to the fall 2022 survey. The vast majority of mothers (88%) say that being a parent is the most or one of the most important aspects of who they are as a person, with about a third (35%) saying it is the most important aspect. While a similarly large share of fathers (85%) say that being a parent ranks among the most important aspects of who they are, they are less likely than mothers to say it is the most important: 24% say this.

Note: This is an update to a post originally published on May 8, 2019.

• Family & Relationships
• Household Structure & Family Roles
• Motherhood & Fatherhood

Katherine Schaeffer is a research analyst at Pew Research Center

Carolina Aragão is a research associate focusing on social and demographic trends at Pew Research Center

Few East Asian adults believe women have an obligation to society to have children

Among parents with young adult children, some dads feel less connected to their kids than moms do, how teens and parents approach screen time, most east asian adults say men and women should share financial and caregiving duties, among young adults without children, men are more likely than women to say they want to be parents someday, most popular.

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