1995 Survey on Children 5 - 17 Years Old (SCL), Manila, Philippines
THE WORKING FILIPINO CHILDREN
Working Conditions and Working Environment
Supervision at Work
About 2.3 million or 83 percent of the total child workers were
supervised by an adult in their work. Of these, 71 percent were supervised
by their parent or guardian, 85 percent among children in age group 5 - 9,
80 percent among children 10 - 14 and 60 percent among those 15 - 17
years. Other than their parent or guardian, child workers were also
supervised in their work by other person (19.5%) or an elder
brother/sister (4.6%).
Those who were supervised by other persons were usually those in age
group 15 - 17 years. In all regions, working children were mostly
supervised by parents or guardians.
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Number of Supervised Working Children 5-17 Years Old by Person Who Supervised
Them at Work and Age Group: July 1995 Please Click here
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Number of Supervised Working Children 5-17 Years Old by Person Who Supervised
Them at Work by Sex: July 1995 Please Click here
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Percent of Supervised Working Children by Person Who Supervised and Region: July
1995 Please Click here
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Risks and Dangers at Work
Of the total children 5 to 17 years old, 629 thousand (17.6%)
considered some aspects of their job risky or dangerous, 22 percent among
boys and 10 percent among girls. In particular, 179 thousand child workers
reported fear of contacting disease or getting sick (28.4%), while 92
thousand (14.6%) and 87 thousand (13.9%) were in danger of physical
mutilation and vehicular accident, respectively.
For majority of both boys and girls, their work put them at risk of
getting diseases. Similarly, in whatever age group, children reported at
risk of getting diseases as the most common danger at work.
Children in the transport industry were the most at risk to vehicular
accident while children in farming were the most at risk of getting
diseases.
More among child workers in rural (17.8%) than urban area (17.1%)
considered their work risky or dangerous. Rural child workers were more
prone to contacting disease or getting sick (31.5%) while urban child
workers were in danger of vehicular accident (27.5%).
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Number of Children 5-17 Years Old Who Considered Work Risky/ Dangerous and Those
Who Don’t: July 1995
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Number of Children 5-17 Years Old Who Considered Some Aspects of Their Job Risky
or Dangerous by Kind Danger and Age Group: July 1995
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Number of Working Children 5-17 Years Old Who Considered Some Aspects of Their
Job Risky or Dangerous by Kind of Risk/Danger and Sex: July 1995
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Number of Working Children 5-17 Years Old Who Considered Some Aspects of Their
Job Risky or Dangerous by Kind of Risk/Danger, Urban-Rural: July 1995
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Percent of Working Children 5-17 Years Old Who Considered Work Risky or
Dangerous by Kind of Danger and Occupation: July 1995
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Machine or Equipment Used
Some 200 thousand (5.6%) child workers had operated a machine or
equipment in their work. Majority of these children had used machines
other than power press (not hydraulic), milling machines, circular saw and
plate printing. Only 4 percent used power press other than hydraulic
press. More boys (82.2%) than girls (17.8%) had used this equipment. The
same was true in all regions. In some regions only boys used these
equipment.
The above findings apply to all age groups.
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Number of Working Children 5-17 Years Old by Whether or Not They Had Operated a
Machine or Equipment: July 1995 Please Click here
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Number of Working Children 5-17 Years Old by Machine or Equipment Used and Sex:
July 1995 Please
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Number of Working Children 5-17 Years Old by Machine or Equipment Used and Age
Group: July 1995 Please
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Safety Gadgets

About one out of five child workers used safety gadgets in their work
(22.1%). Safety gadgets often used were safety helmet or hair caps
(35.9%), protective clothing (24.3%) and/or gloves (15.2%).
Children in age group 5 - 9 years mostly used safety helmets or hair
caps and/or protective clothing. These children were mostly engaged in
agriculture.
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Number of Working Children 5-17 Years Old by Whether or not They had Used Safety
Gadgets in Their Work: July 1995 Please Click here
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Those in age groups 10 - 14 and 15 - 17 years used wider range of safet
gadgets such as safety helmets, protective clothing, safety shoes, gloves,
face shields, overall/apron, goggles/spectacles, respirator and life vest.
Most commonly used safety gadgets are: safety helmet, hair caps, gloves
by those engaged in agriculture; goggles, spectacles by those in fishing
and regulators by those in mining.
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Number of Working Children 5-17 Years Old Who Had Used Safety Gadgets in Their
Work by Gadgets Used and Sex: July 1995 Please
Click here |
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Number of Working Children 5-17 Years Old Who Had Used Safety Gadgets in Their
Work by Gadgets Used and Age Group: July 1995 Please Click here
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Percent of Working Children 5-17 Years Old Who Had Used Safety Gadgets in Their
Work by Gadgets Used and Industry: July 1995 Please Click here
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Hazards at Work
Chemical

Twenty-five percent of the working children were exposed to chemical
hazards at work. Exposure to dust (51.7%) and to mist/fumes (39.3%) were
the usual complaints. This was true in all age groups although as the age
group becomes older, the number of working children who got exposed to
other chemicals such as gasoline, oil, mercury, oxygen, ammonia and other
gaseous or liquid chemicals also increased.
Majority of those exposed to chemical hazards were boys (72.38%) and
can be found in farming and retail trade.
Working children at NCR and Regions III, IV, V, VI, VII, X, XI and XII
were usually exposed to dust such as silica dust, sawdust, etc.. Those at
CAR, Regions I, II, VIII and IX were mostly exposed to mist/fumes coming
from insecticides, paints, etc..
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Number of Working Children 5-17 Years Old Who Were Exposed to Chemical Hazards
by Type of Hazards and Sex: July 1995
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Biological

On the other hand, about 19 percent were exposed to biological hazards, the
percentage of boys (69.2%) greater than girls (30.8%). These children were
mostly exposed to bacteria (47.0%), fungus (42.0%) and parasites (28.5%). This
was true in whatever age group.
Exposure to biological hazards varied by region. The most common biological
hazards reported in the regions were bacteria, fungus, parasites and virus
although in some regions, exposure to one biological hazard was greater than in
the other regions. For instance, working children of NCR, CAR, Regions I, III,
IV, V, VI VII, and X were mostly exposed to bacteria while those in Regions VIII
and ARMM were mostly exposed to parasites. Children in Regions IX, XI and XII
were mostly exposed to fungus. It is worth to note however, that working
children in Region XI were exposed to a much wider range of biological hazards
such as fungus, bacteria, parasites and virus.
Majority of those who reported exposure to these hazards were those engaged
in farming.
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Number of Working Children 5-17 Years Old Who Were Exposed to Biological Hazards
by Hazards and Sex: July 1995 Please Click
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Physical
More than half (51.2%) of the total working children, more boys (69.0%)
than girls claimed exposure to physical hazards at work. Majority
complained exposure to high temperature or humidity (76.0%). This was true
for both boys and girls in all age groups.
Mostly affected by these hazards were working children in rural areas,
especially those engaged in farming.
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Number of Working Children 5-17 Years Old Who Were Exposed to Physical Hazards
by Type of Hazards and Sex: July 1995 Please Click here
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Working Conditions to Improve

Child workers also complained about their working conditions. A total
of 560 thousand child workers complained about flooding in the work area
(43.9%), unsanitary surroundings (26.1%), lack of clean water supply
(26.6%), inadequate working space (18.6%), too much noise (17.9%) and
inadequate ventilation and lighting (22.5%).
For most of the regions, flooding of work area was the most common
complaint. In some regions however like the NCR, working children
complained about too noisy work area. For working children in the
Cordilleras, the problem was more on unsanitary surroundings. Lack of
clean water supply was the concern of working children in Region II and
Region V.

About one in every three working boys expressed the need for
improvements in these areas. About 64.4 percent of those who expressed the
need to improve their working conditions were boys. They wanted to have
clean water supply and de-flooding of work area.
Working girls on the other hand, complained about unsanitary
surroundings.
In all age group, the topmost complaint on the working condition was
the flooding in the work area. Next to this area for improvement were:
unsanitary surroundings and inadequate working space for working children
at age group 5 - 9 years; and lack of clean water supply and unsanitary
surroundings for age groups 10 - 14 and 15 - 17 years.
Flooding in work area was usually complained about by children engaged
in farming. This is inherent in the industry as irrigation is part of the
farming process. Lack of clean water supply and unsanitary surroundings
were also complained about by the children engaged in this industry.
Inadequate working space, too much noise in the work area, and
inadequate ventilation were the most common problems in trading.
Those engaged in retail trade complained about inadequate working space
and too much noise. Personal service workers complained about flooded work
area, unsanitary surroundings and inadequate working space.

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Number of Children 5-17 Years Old Who Wanted Some Improvements at Work Area by
Areas for Improvement and Sex: July 1995 Please Click here
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