The population of working children aged 5 to 17 fell to 861,000 in 2024, continuing a three-year annual decline, while the total number of children engaged in child labor also dropped to 509,000, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
This represented a sharp decrease from 1.09 million working children in 2023 and 1.48 million in 2022. The proportion of working children relative to the total child population in that age group reached 2.7 percent in 2024, falling from 3.5 percent the previous year and 4.7 percent in 2022.
Child labor includes work by children younger than 15 years that exceeds 20 hours a week or four hours on any given day or is scheduled between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. of the following day, as stipulated in Republic Act No. 9231.
For children aged 15 to 17, child labor includes work that exceeds 40 hours a week or eight hours a day or falls between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. of the following day.
Data showed that the number of working children engaged in child labor was 509,000 in 2024, lower than 678,000 reported in 2023 and 828,000 in 2022. This represented 1.6 percent of the total child population aged 5 to 17.
However, of the total working children, 59.1 percent were engaged in child labor, a figure higher than the 56.0 percent recorded in 2022.
Boys constituted the majority of working children, comprising 532,000 or 61.8 percent of the total, while girls made up 329,000 or 38.2 percent. Among those engaged in child labor, 349,000 or 68.5 percent were boys, with girls accounting for 160,000 or 31.5 percent.
Across age groups, children 15 to 17 years old accounted for the largest share of both working children (74.5 percent) and child laborers (78.6 percent) in 2024. This represents an increasing trend for this age bracket, which was 72.5 percent of working children in 2023 and 59.7 percent in 2022.
The services sector employed the highest percentage of working children at 50.4 percent in 2024, a slight increase from 50.0 percent in 2023 and 49.5 percent in 2022.
Agriculture was the second largest sector employing 40.7 percent of working children in 2024, down from 43.7 percent in 2023. The industry sector held the lowest share at 8.9 percent.
The agriculture sector continued to account for the largest share of child laborers at 64.4 percent in 2024, followed by the services sector with a 29.0 percent share and the industry sector with a 6.6 percent share. The majority of working children, 73.8 percent, reported working 20 hours or less per week in 2024.
Hazardous work, or activities harmful to the health safety or morals of children, is defined by the Department of Labor and Employment Department Order No. 149 Series of 2016.
