Many Filipino children are forced to work at a young age. With as many as 5.5 million children working and 3 million children working in dangerous conditions, child labor in the Philippines is a serious problem. Child workers are subject to a number of abuses that hamper their development, like working with harmful chemicals and dangerous tools, working long hours without breaks, and suffering physical and psychological abuse from employers. According to the List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor, 13 goods are produced by child laborers in the Philippines, including sugarcane, tobacco and gold.
The Philippines has child labor laws in place, but enforcement is inconsistent among the regions. The root cause of the issue, poverty, must be addressed to stop child labor in the Philippines. When faced with economic struggle, families cannot afford to send children to school and must send them to work to make ends meet. Furthermore, the global economy has driven gold mining operations in the Philippines to new levels, and this hazardous industry makes heavy use of child labor. With poverty incidence among Filipino families increasing along with economic pressure, there is a long road ahead to ending child labor.