1995 National Survey on Working Children
One In Ten Working Children With Heavy Physical Work
An estimated 3.6 million children aged 5 – 17 had worked at anytime between August 1994 to July 1995. This was the latest estimate on the working children in the country based on the 1995 Survey of Children 5 – 17 Years Old. The survey was conducted by the National Statistics Office and the very first ever nationwide survey on working children conducted in the Philippines.
One in ten of these working children reported to have engaged in heavy physical work. Most of these working children were boys.
There were also children who reported being exhausted at work. Some 17 percent of the working children reported that they always come home from work exhausted. Children engaged in construction and fishing were the ones who usually come home from work exhausted.
In addition to this, there were also working children who found their work stressful. Approximately 10 percent of the working children reported so. Most of these children were engaged in farming.
Education of working children affected
Education, being one of the basic rights of the child is affected when one enters the working world. According to the same survey, twenty eight percent of these children reported that their work affected their studies. Of those who were affected, 32 percent had difficulty in catching up with their lessons and 41 percent reported that it was manifested in low grades.
Even the parents had observed some manifestations of the effect of work on their children. Twenty five percent of the parents affirmed that their working children received poor grades. Others noted that their working children were becoming hot tempered or emotional (16.4%), and sickly (14.58%).