By Joseph Pedrajas
Hundreds of thousands of children from across the country do not go to school and are involved in child labor, a recent study conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) and an Iloilo-based non-profit organization found.
Based on a study conducted by SWS and LifeBank Foundation, they said that some 369,242 children, aged 17 and below and from poor household communities, are not studying and are engaged in child labor. This includes garbage collection, cleaning jeepneys, and begging for alms, among other activities.
Since the study was only limited to out-of-school children, the study added, "among the remaining 2.3 million children from poor households residing in cities," there may be more children "who are working in the streets after school to contribute to their families’ income."
The study depended on the information provided by the government of the country’s total population.
It also took into account the percentage of the country’s street children, or those aged 18 and below "who stay in public places at least four hours every day, and are engaged in varied types of activities in public places such as playing with friends, sleeping, and earning a living."
In conducting the study entitled "Estimates of Potential Children in Street Situations (CiSS) in the Philippines," SWS and LifeBank first selected children from poor households, or those with incomes below the national poverty line.
They then filtered the data to determine the number of children who reside only in the cities, since it was believed that "CISS is an urban phenomenon."
SWS and LifeBank assumed that "CiSS are more likely not studying," so they considered the children who have reached school age but are not going to school. This left them a total estimate of 369,242 potential CiSS.
The Iloilo-based LifeBank said that if the result were applied in Iloilo City, there would have been 13,241 potential CiSS. If applied to Cagayan de Oro City, there would have been 30,957 CiSS.
SWS made clear that it used available government data for the estimates, specifically the July 2015 merged Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) and Labor Force (LFS) datasets, in the study.
FIES provides data on Filipino family income and expenditure, including levels of consumption by item of expenditure as well sources of income, in cash and in kind.
LFS provides statistics on levels and trends of employment, unemployment, and underemployment of household members aged 15 and older for the entire country and for each of the administrative regions.