CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND RELATED STUDIES

This chapter involves the nature of the research study and the issue itself, studies

with relatedness, the theory wherein the child labor evolved, and the gaps needed to be

filled.

Related Literature

Child labor exist on different countries and venues. It has no certain gender, age, or

even races selected because children and their parents have the reasons why they were need

to go in a workplace. Children plays to earn income even on the hazardous job. A

Philippines agency like the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)’s Department

Order No. 4 Series 1999 includes in the definition the situation of children below the age

eighteen who are employed in hazardous occupations, such as work which causes exposure

to physical, psychological, or sexual abuse; work underground, under water, or at

dangerous heights; work with dangerous machinery, equipment and tools, or which

involves manual handling or transport of heavy loads; work in an unhealthy environment;

and work under particularly difficult conditions. Also, UNICEF (2007) says child labor is

essentially understood as encompassing monetary or non - monetary activities, which are

mentally or physically, morally and socially hazardous for children below 12 years.

However, the Ateneo Human Rights Center (1998) defines child labor in more economic

terms as “the participation of a child in a variety of work situations, on a more or less

regular basis, to earn a livelihood for himself or herself or for others”.

 15

After the fall of the Marcos regime in 1986, increasing demands for reforms in

government policies, legislation and programs affecting children made the government

respond by ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on

July 26, 1990. The CRC entered into force as an international agreement on September 2,

1990. The convention directs the ratifying countries to “recognize the right of the child to

be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be

hazardous or to interfere with the child's education, or to be harmful to the child's health or

physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.” (Refworld.org, 2015) This is the

cause for the lawmakers to pass various laws regarding child labor. These policies and/or

laws were approved by the makers but it may or may not be proper implemented in the

country or the locality that rooted of inculcated high prevalent number of child workers.

On 2003, the Philippine legislators approved the RA 9231 as the law amending on

RA 7610 (Special protection of children against child abuse, exploitation, and

discrimination act). The RA 9231 refers to an act providing for the elimination of the worst

forms of child labor and affording stronger protection for the working child. The study

ascertains the researchers’ focus on the Section 2 that enables the employment of children

below 15 years of age shall not be employed with some certain exceptions, Section 3 that

discusses the working hours of the child appropriately, and Section 4 that supports the

children for education and training while or during working.

As the legal basis still in working, researchers locate some studies that feature how

child labor works in the country or even in the world’s scope. The studies have their

foundation in each information traced. It may be a strong observation or based on the theory

established of other related researches.

 16

Sunandamma (2014) firmly believes that traditionally poverty is considered as the

major cause of child labor contrary to this belief many studies established the fact that child

labor also comes from improvised families. In some case exploited child labor perpetuates

poverty. Even though child labor is generally considered as a problem of the enveloping

world. The reality is children of different ages routinely work in different forms in all

industrialized countries. Child Labor is considered as the result of the poor having more

number of children. The reality is more than the number of children it is the parental

discretions about the child is priorities and lack of faith in the formal education is causing

the child labor. Many parents believe that working children will be equipped with skills for

the future but practically. The task allotted to child workers is simple and repetitive such

as cleaning, serving helping and minor repairing. Skills are a misnomer when related to the

toil and drudgery children engage in many things that children prefer to work. In many

cases lack of interest in schooling is making the children to prefer for work, because of

their inability to conceive of an alternative. Many believe that there is nothing wrong in

allowing children to work in non-hazardous occupations. Even jobs which are not

inherently hazardous become hazardous for children, when they are made to do the job for

long periods defying their rights of recreation leisure and play. There is a general believe

that child labor is inevitable in certain fields. But the fact is that child workers may be

replaced with adults which naturally enhance the cost of a product or service. This

consequence is not acceptable to all concerned.

Education is a very important part of development. Children who are drawn to child

labor are basically driven because of economic deprivation, lack of schooling and

engagement of family for daily needs. Studies have found low enrollment with increased
 17

rates of child employment. Schools are the platform for early intervention against child

labor, as it restricts their participation in menial jobs. Hurdles in this approach are economic

reasons. Unless economic change is brought about, the children will not be able to attend

the school. Child labor can be controlled by economic development increasing awareness

and making education affordable across all levels, and enforcement of anti-child labor

laws. (International Labor Organization, 1992)

The study incorporates on how child labor affect the personal development of the

child and economic aspect of an industry. It is evident in most of the cases and must be

proved for further research of present study. The researchers served the information as

basis for the comparison of the effects of child labor in different aspects from other time

than now.

Child labor was still existing on the current times. There were news and articles

regarding the issue that could be prove how the country is prevailing on child work. There

are words demonstrate the causes and effects of the child labor towards child’s

development and education even on today’s society like in a news from GMA network

recently in the year of 2018 wherein few of the authorities rescued seven children who

were made to work in a sugarcane plantation in Calaca, Batangas. Operatives from the

National Bureau of Investigation, Rizal District Office, witnessed two of the seven rescued

children working in the field during the operation. Acting on a tip from children who

escaped from the plantation, NBI agents carried out rescue plan, "Unang Balita" reported

on Friday. Some of the victims claimed that the plantation owner promised them P300 for

a day's work, and free board and lodging. But they were only paid P25 a day, and that they

were made to work for 12 hours —from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. NBI agents have arrested the
 18

landowner, who also served as the children's recruiter, and some barangay councilors,

among others. Philippine Statistics Authority data show that some 3 million children, ages

five to 17, were forced to work and most of them are in the agriculture sector, particularly

in sugar plantations. Under Philippine labor laws, hiring children below 15 is violation of

labor laws and is punishable.

Most vulnerable children are children whose quality of life and ability to fulfill their

potential is most affected by extreme deprivation and violations of their rights. These

children often live in catastrophic situations and relationships characterized by violence,

abuse, neglect, exploitation, exclusion and discrimination. (World Vision International,

2017)

The violation of rights of the future of the nation has domino effect that may be

caused of other issues that affects the society. The researchers studying for further concerns

in the variables and especially for the child workers.

There are 5.5 million children in the Philippines engaged in labor, including

permissible work for children, said Soledad, citing 2011 state figures. A recently released

US report likewise listed 13 Philippine goods believed to be produced through child

labor. The EILER-QK study also showed that landlessness contributed to the push behind

child labor, with 77.7% of those surveyed not owning or having access to land. Children

continue to work in dangerous environments with no or limited protective equipment, the

study revealed. As kids forced to live adult lives, the children bear long hours of work in

exchange for very low wages. 48% of the child laborers covered by the survey receive

P130 to 150 a day. In mines, 50% are paid below P100 a day. In plantations, not a single
 19

child worker would receive P200 for a day's work. A majority of them work 6 times a

week, and most of them toil for 10 hours a day. "Worse, child labor, especially in

plantations and mines, provide no means by which the children and their families may

escape the vicious cycle of generational poverty," the study said. Commission on Human

Rights Chairperson Loretta Ann Rosales said there are enough laws to fight the menace of

child labor but implementation is key. (Bernal, 2015)

In a Bureau of International Labor Affairs report, children commonly work as

domestic workers or “kasambahays.” child domestic workers work long hours, and their

isolation in the homes where they work creates the potential for sexual harassment and

verbal and physical abuse. Child domestic workers are often denied access to education.

Some children end up in situations of forced labor, especially those who receive no pay or

have their wages withheld. Child soldiering is a problem, particularly among

antigovernment and terrorist organizations. Sources indicate that children continue to be

found in the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), working as guides, messengers, and

porters. In early 2014, the Government of the Philippines signed a peace agreement with

the MILF, completing negotiations that had been ongoing for more than a decade. UNICEF

conducted preventative programs with the group on the recruitment and use of children.

The MILF also reconstituted a panel to monitor implementation of the UN-MILF Action

Plan to monitor cases of grave child rights violations. Although the law mandates free

education, many children do not attend school because the costs of books, uniforms, meals,

and transportation are prohibitive for many families. In addition, distant school locations

are often not accessible to rural students, especially at the secondary school level.
 20

International Labor Organization consider hazardous child labor is the largest

category of the worst forms of child labor with an estimated 73 million children, aged 5-

17, working in dangerous conditions in a wide range of sectors, including agriculture,

mining, construction, manufacturing, as well as in hotels, bars, restaurants, markets, and

domestic service. It is found in both industrialized and developing countries. Girls and boys

often start carrying out hazardous work at very early ages. Worldwide, the ILO estimates

that some 22,000 children are killed at work every year. The numbers of those injured or

made ill because of their work are not known. Because their bodies and minds are still

developing, children are more vulnerable than adults to workplace hazards, and the

consequences of hazardous work are often more devastating and lasting for them. When

speaking of child labor it is important to go beyond the concepts of work hazard and risk as

applied to adult workers and to expand them to include the developmental aspects of

childhood. Because children are still growing, they have special characteristics and needs,

and in determining workplace hazards and risks their effect on children’s physical,

cognitive (thought/learning) and behavioral development and emotional growth must be

taken into consideration.

Children numbered in different venues of work. The study enables to provide

opportunity to give insights about the law for working children in the research area in terms

of industry as the representative of the study for the whole municipality. The research study

gives insights for the awareness level and perceptions regarding the RA 9231 that affect

the existence of the child labor.

 21

Many of the Filipino working children are enrolled. Nevertheless, a number of them

have dropped out from school for a year or two due to financial constraints. Children then

work to be able to finance their studies in the succeeding year. For children who are

enrolled, work enables them to buy needed school materials, and for transportation and

meal expenses at school. Though lowly-educated themselves, parents from poor

households hold high educational aspirations for their children, with firm hopes that they

will finish at least secondary education. The children themselves see education as a

premium and consider it an ideal life condition if they can work to educate themselves.

Thus, in the case of many Filipino working children, work is perceived as a means to move

up in the social ladder because it can help educate them for future jobs. Recent studies

indicate that children who go to work belong to households which perceive a need to

augment the present income resources of the unit. Such families are often nuclear, having

six family members on the average but extending to as many as 20 members,

predominantly young in composition, with parents in their late thirties. Urban parents, if

employed, are often engaged in low-paying, untenured occupations in the informal sector.

Rural parents, likewise, may be unemployed or underemployed, working at seasonal jobs

in agriculture supplemented at times by informal sector occupations. On the average, the

incomes of these households fall below the national threshold for poverty. When no other

resource can be pawned, impoverished parents sell their children in exchange for -goods

and other material requirements for survival. At the very least, children are compelled to

work to meet the family's survival needs. (Tiglao-Torres, 2017)

The study incorporated the low attainment of the parents and its low income to the

cause of children in working for survival need of themselves and for their family. These
 22

reason give opportunity to work at very young age and be the provider of the family for

survival and future compliance.

Not all working children perform activities that can be defined as child labor, yet

there is a dominant view that all child work is somehow problematic. Children should

indeed be protected from labor activities that are exploitative, harmful to their physical and

mental development, and are an affront to their dignity. The role of education in eradicating

child labor should not be underestimated. Activists suggest using the right to education and

stronger domestic laws for its implementation as a way of fighting child labor. Introducing

free basic education, ensuring schools are within a reasonable distance from home, and

offering sufficient subsidies to families of limited resources are some of the options to

encourage parents to send their children to school, rather than work. With any policy that

directly affects children, the ideal is that children’s opinions and their right to be heard be

respected - even if in practice this rarely happens. Indeed, speaking in the name of children

yet ignoring what they have to say themselves is what one commentator called a “morally

questionable contradiction”. (Child Rights International Network, 2019)

Education is one of the primary needs of the children. The study says that this

education may be the key to eradicate child labor. Quality access to schooling, awareness

raising and reinforcing domestic policies and child rights awareness for the stakeholders

may be the way on giving solution in such issue. The reprimands of the existing ways must

be developed and have more commitments for the goal in terms of the child labor.

It is important to understand the correlates of child labor, including the typical

household situation of children who work. For example, because job opportunities for
 23

children are greater in primary industry and in other informal sectors of the economy,

children of informal sector workers tend to be more strongly represented in employment

than children of formal sector workers. Other factors are important in explaining this

correlation, of course, including the typically higher household income of formal sector

workers, providing less need for their children to work. Various studies in South Asia stress

the complexity of factors conditioning children’s work. Although poverty is a crucial

cause, and child labor tends to be greater in agrarian contexts, when poverty levels are

controlled, wide variations in child labor can still be observed, even when only agrarian

contexts are considered. Often it is household poverty that leads children to drop out of

school and to enter the labor force. Even when schooling is “free”, typically some kind of

fee charges are made, but more importantly, other costs including transport, school

uniforms, snacks, payment for books, etc. mount up and place education beyond the reach

of children from poor households. In one study in Eastern Indonesia, lack of money was

the reason given by half to two thirds of all children who failed to continue in school, and

other reasons given sometimes disguised what was really a poverty reason. Other

Indonesian studies confirm this finding. (Jones, 2003)

Many studies comply on the reasons of the family why children need to work and

there many correlational causes for the occurrence. The study enables to provide

information for the researchers to give focus on certain areas why child labor exist

including the poverty as crucial one that effect to financial constraints.

Child labor tends to reinforce integrational cycle of poverty because it interferes

with their education and increases their vulnerability to exploitation (Global Study on Child
 24

Poverty and Disparities, 2010). The child labor permits the child labor to ruin one’s future.

The poverty enables the children to be trapped in the cycle of poverty or vice versa.

To ensure the achievement of this SDG, the study urged governments to integrate

policy response to child labor in their national development efforts. It encouraged

policymakers to stop treating child labor as an isolated issue and to mainstream it into

national policies. They also encouraged specialize responses to the specific “gender, age

and regional dimensions of child labor.” “Differences between boys and girls in terms of

the extent and nature of their involvement in child labor underscore the continuing

relevance of policy measures that address the role of gender in determining whether

children are sent to work and the risks they face once there,” said the report. “In regional

terms, Africa, where child labor is highest in both proportionate and absolute terms, and

where progress has stalled, remains a particular priority,” it added. Ultimately, the 3

organizations behind the study called for an international cooperation in combating child

labor through Alliance 8.7. The global partnership launched in 2015 seeks to focus on

conducting research, knowledge sharing, boosting resources and actions in ending child

labor. “In many countries, the cost of required action far exceeds available government

resources, meaning that international resource mobilization will also be imperative to

success against child labor,” the study said. “Children who are free from the burden of

child labor are able to fully realize their rights to education, leisure, and healthy

development, in turn providing the essential foundation for broader social and economic

development, poverty eradication, and human rights,” it added. (Pasion, 2017)

The study emphasizes what we need to do for eradicating such issue including

resources mobilization and finding ways to be developed from groups who were
 25

establishing anti-child labor advocacies. The study enables the researchers also to find

chance in giving emphasis of child labor in terms of enforcement of policies and its

measures.

Despite all the efforts of government, the international community, and multi-

sectoral groups, child laborers still exist,” Anna Leah Colina of the Ecumenical Institute

for Labor Education and Research, one of the organizers of the forum, told Kyodo News.

In her presentation at the forum of her group’s study last year on child labor in mining and

plantations, Colina said poverty and low family income are the main reasons children work

rather than go to school. Lack of high schools, the difficulty to reach the schools and

landlessness contribute to the problem, she added. In his keynote speech at the forum,

European Union Ambassador to the Philippines Guy Ledoux called on governments to

“implement transformative development strategies that enable people, especially the

children, to enjoy their rights and realize their full potential. “Abuse against children is

unacceptable whenever or wherever it happens,” Ledoux said. International Labor

Organization representative Giovanni Soledad noted the Philippines is regarded by the

United States Department of Labor to have made significant advancement in 2012 and

2013 in its efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor. But he said the government

is still faced with the challenge of enforcing and implanting policies and programs,

especially in remote corners of the country where the problem mainly persists. “The more

we talk about this, and share best practices and expose the evil or the ills, the more we’ll

have the capability to solve it,” Soledad said. (Calunsod, 2015)

 26

There were propositions made by some of the stakeholders. They cite causes to be

in the researchers’ emphasis of the study and how we can cope to this child labor. The

arguments provide the factors that must be scope by the present study.

In the past decade, in conjunction with the fast growth of mass media and the

equally fast growth of internet access across China, the sensitive topic of child labor has

started to gain increasing public attention (De-ping, 2009). Here in the Philippines, child

labor evidently seen throughout the country with its large number. Both rural and urban

areas contain child laborer that instead of having a normal life being a child, they start to

work hard in the market place in their early life. This is not only a normal situation

happening in our country but a huge problem faced by our government and must also be

given the eyes of public attention.

With regards to the increasing number of child labor in the different parts of the

world, the government of these countries provides an action that protects the life of a child

from any exploitation being a child labor. The National Child Labor Committee was started

on April 25, 1904 on New York, and it created different laws to protect the human rights

and try to make a safer and educational environment for children. One of the purposes of

the committee is to provide and improve the health and education opportunities in all states

for every child in the United States. It also wants to prevent the exploitation of children

and youth adults on the labor market.

The government must have the special force to take in the responsibility in

eradicating the children from adults’ workplaces. The study provides the opportunity to

reach the governments’ attention for the children that was on the danger within their jobs.
 27

Also, the study provides the hypothesis that child labor exist in high prevalence in the

municipality of Bulan.

Recently, the government take an action to make ways in reinforcing the policies

exist in the Philippines regarding child labor. The news featured their take in action and

make ways to make a change for the reduction of the risks of the children in labor force

specifically in the exploitative manner.

In support to children’s rights, the Department of Social Welfare and Development

(DSWD) will pilot test the implementation of the Strategic Helpdesks for Information,

Education, Livelihood, and other Developmental Interventions (SHIELD) against child

labor. DSWD will launch the project today, January 12. The SHIELD project aims to

strengthen the capacity of local government units (LGUs) in the prevention and elimination

of the worst forms of child labor. DSWD will pilot-test this project in Regions

CALABARZON, V, and VII for two years, starting this year. These regions have been

identified as high risk areas for deep-sea fishing, mining, quarrying, agriculture, and major

sources of child domestics workers (DSWD, 2017).

The DOLE said in a statement that Secretary Silvestre Bello III has instructed regional

and field offices to consolidate identification of child laborers, in an effort to assess their

needs and to refer the concerned agencies to address them. "Given the insufficient data on

child laborers, it is necessary to first conduct nationwide profiling of the target child

laborers and their families which will serve as a basis for the provision of appropriate

services and interventions necessary to remove the children from child labor," it said.

(Peralta, 2018)
 28

The study relates the mentioned information above to provide theoretical and legal

basis of the still existence of the issue. The study enables to realize the emphasis in limited

factors including poverty, low educational attainment of the parents, and the unlimited

reasons of children and of the parents that was evident in the research area. There are many

propositions and arguments on ways of reducing the numbers of child labor and the factors

that encompassing it. The researchers give opportunity to cite their awareness and

perceptions regarding the particular sections of the policy. The interventions of the study

that will be discussed in further parts of the research guides the policymakers in the

community level of what can they do in regulating their commune.

 29

Related Studies

There are studies that discusses how child labor affects to the children in different

workplaces. These studies imply the causes of child labor that trigger this issue to exist.

The studies have compared and contrasted variables to the present study. Also, the

researchers determine the approach utilize on the recent research studies. The research

studies choose these studies as basis for what approach may adapt or need to improve for

the better results of the study.

According to the study of Makwinja (2010), “Child Labor and the Violation of

Child Rights: A Case of Child Workers on Tea and Tobacco Plantations in Malawi,” the

study attempts to determine the extent to which child labor constitutes a violation of child

rights. The international documents, especially the CRC, depart from the universal

conception of childhood, making children all over the world the same and deserving similar

treatment, more so claiming their rights. Using the case of child workers on tea and tobacco

estates in Malawi, it examines the notion of childhood which forms the basis to any child

rights claims. Employing the cultural politics of childhood, the essay argues that childhood

on which child rights are founded is a contested notion. Children are valued differently in

all societies across the world. Additionally, the thesis argues that education proposed as a

panacea for child labor is also a contested field as its aims and values vary across societies.

The western education system may not be the ideal for the lives of children working on tea

and tobacco estates. Thus, the basis on which child rights are based, and the proposition of

schooling as solution remain problematic in the abolition of child rights. The thesis

concludes by recommending the capability approach which provides an alternative to the

understanding and protection human rights, children’s rights included. In the capability
 30

approach, the end (substantive opportunities) must be achieved freely (freedom of

processes) through the most efficient and available means of sustaining economic life,

security and welfare of people. The capability approach treats human rights and education

from a holistic perspective.

The mentioned research study was based on child rights including the Convention

on Rights of the Child. Also, the capability approach in holistic perspective were used to

be the interventions for the awareness towards the condition of the child laborers in Malawi

and what violation of rights might exist when child labor occurred. While, the present study

utilizes interventions for awareness raising towards the state of child laborers in the

research area. The research uses the national policy as basis of what did the stakeholders

probably violated. The study citing for what might the industry or employer did not provide

appropriately to the child laborers according to the law, not directly the child rights’ basis.

According to the study of Zaman et. al. (2014), “A Study on Present Scenario of

Child Labor in Bangladesh,” the problem of child labor is a socio-economic reality of

Bangladesh. This issue is enormous and cannot be ignored. This study indicates the child

labor increase in a developing country like Bangladesh and the positive and negative effects

of child labor on the society. Poverty is the main reason for the children to become child

laborers. The child labor problem has become one of the most striking issues in the

developing countries. Therefore, a need to identify the vulnerable children and point out

their problems has come into the light. Many government and non-government

organizations have taken several progression steps to decrease child labor problem from

the society. An attempt is made in this article to present the socio-economic scenario of
 31

child labor in Bangladesh and to find out the ways in which child labor can be decreased

gradually.

The present research study was similar to the aforesaid study in terms of research

topic that discussing on child labor but the study focused on the factors of age bracket of

child worker, the working hours also be surveyed, and the education attained by the child

laborer. The study excludes the other issues that corporates to child labor instead the child

labor itself.

According to the study of Ibrahim, et. al. (2018), “Child labor and health: a

systematic literature review of the impacts of child labor on child’s health in low- and

middle-income countries,” the study has an objective to summarize current evidence on the

impacts of child labor on physical and mental health. They searched PubMed and

ScienceDirect for studies that included participants aged 18 years or less, conducted in low-

and middle-income countries (LMICs), and reported quantitative data. Two independent

reviewers conducted data extraction and assessment of study quality. A total of 25 studies

were identified, the majority of which were cross-sectional. Child labor was found to be

associated with a number of adverse health outcomes, including but not limited to poor

growth, malnutrition, higher incidence of infectious and system-specific diseases,

behavioral, and emotional disorders, and decreased coping efficacy. Quality of included

studies was rated as fair to good. Child labors remains a major public health concern in

LMICs, being associated with adverse physical and mental health outcomes. Current

efforts against child labor need to be revised, at least in LMICs. Further studies following

a longitudinal design, and using common methods to assess the health impact of child labor

in different country contexts would inform policy making.

 32

The study abovementioned were similar to the present study as it strikes the policy

making as the present one based on the national law. While the differences exist in both

studies in terms of the aspects, the present study exclude the other aspects except the age,

working hours and the education provided to the child laborers. The study utilized the other

studies as supporting basis not as the variables in the research.

According to the study of Rickey (2009), “The Determinants of Child Labor and

Schooling in the Philippines,” the previous literature suggests that the determinants of child

labor are largely country specific, indicating that any policies aimed at reducing child labor

must look carefully at the causes of child labor in context. My thesis adds to the empirical

work on child labor by investigating what household and community characteristics are

most common among working children in the Philippines, using data collected by the

International Labor Organization. I use a multinomial logit model with child activity as

the dependent variable, where the three possible outcomes are work only, work and study,

and study only. I find that poverty has a strong negative impact on the probability a child

works full time or part time (relative to study only), especially in rural areas, as do the years

of the household head’s education and having electricity and access to drinking water.

Having a close biological relation to the head has a significantly positive effect on the

probability of studying only for all groups of children, and especially for urban girls. The

results also indicate that government programs like welfare and community organizations

do little to reduce child labor, probably due to the lack of awareness among the majority of

the populace.

The study above complies to the similarity of the present study of the researchers

as its discusses also the effects of child labor to the schooling of child workers. Also, the
 33

study has the aim to raise the awareness of the population. The study also tackled for the

government programs provided wherein it was also in the inclusion of the present study.

The studies both include the working hours of the laborers. The difference between the

studies exist in terms of it include the causal factors like the poverty cases that the

household wherein the child live were experienced.

According to the study of Fernandez & Abocejo (2014), “Child Labor, Poverty and

School Attendance: Evidences from the Philippines by Region,” examined the relationship

between poverty and child labor in the Philippines by region. It investigated how school

attendance of working children relates to poverty incidence covering the period 2008-2012.

The study utilized data from the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES) and

the National Statistics Coordination Board (NSCB) to determine the relationships among

poverty, prevalence of child labor and the number of working children not attending school.

Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was employed in the analysis. Findings

revealed that poverty incidence and prevalence of child labor were strongly correlated.

Similarly, poverty incidence strongly associates with the number of working children not

attending school. Poverty displaces these children from school. School children are enticed

to participate in the labor force because of short-term income opportunities. There is,

however, no relationship between prevalence of child labor and the number of working

children not attending school. Empirical data revealed that CARAGA, ARMM and

Zamboanga have high percentages of poor individuals compared with other regions of the

country with large number of children not attending school. It is evident that children have

taken on the responsibility of augmenting the household incomes and of providing the

needs of their households. There is enough evidence that conclude that poverty pushes
 34

children to participate in the labor force for them augment household income. It is

recommended that the government, aside from ensuring free basic education, should

provide and construct schools close to poor communities so that all children who cannot

pay transportation costs are able to attend school.

The study mentioned were being relates to the present study as its discusses the

schooling indicator. The two studies were different in terms of other variables like the

poverty and the demographic scope of the study. The present study excludes the other

community in the municipality as it considers the research area as the representation of the

larger scope wherein the high prevalence of child labor exists.

According to the study of Nelson and Quiton (2017), “Child Labor and Its Effects

on Schooling, Health and Recreation of Filipino Children,” this study used a novel log

linear analysis to identify the factors that enhance and hamper working children’s effort to

receive education, stay healthy and engage in recreational activities. The study looked at a

sample of working children aged between 5 and 17 years in a nationwide study in 1995

and 2001 by the National Survey on Working Children (NSWC). It was found that the

dropout rate from school decreased when the number of working hours and frequency of

heavy physical work lessened. Working for a relative, and when the child is an unpaid

worker did not affect their schooling as compared to children who engaged in heavy

physical work. In 1995, the adverse effect on health among working children in the

agricultural sector was due to heavy physical work and exposure to parasites and bacteria.

In 2001, it was found that most children working in the industrial sector were affected by

exposure to extreme temperatures and harmful chemicals. Long working hours meant less
 35

time for recreational activities. The identification of these specific factors are useful for

policy makers in the Philippines who aim at reducing the incidence of child labor.

The study above demand to know if the child laborers went to school and

experience to have some leisure wherein the present study includes it as the variable

indicators. Both study determine the heaviness of the work. The studies differ in terms of

other aspects like physical and psychological effects of the child labor.

According to the study of Portner (2016), “Effects of parental absence on child

labor and school attendance in the Philippines,” this paper uses longitudinal data from the

Philippines to analyze determinants of children’s time allocation. The estimation method

takes into account both the simultaneity of time uses decisions, by allowing for correlation

of residuals across time uses, and unobservable family heterogeneity, through the inclusion

of household fixed effects. Importantly, this improved estimation method leads to different

results than when applying the methods previously used in the literature. Girls suffer

significantly from the absence of their mother with a reduction in time spent in school that

is equivalent to dropping out completely. This effect is substantially larger when

controlling for household unobservable than when not. Boys increase time spent working

on market related activities in response to an absent father, although this time appears to

come out of leisure rather than school or doing household chores. Land ownership

substantially increase the time boys spend on school activities, whereas renting land

reduces the time girls spend on school. Finally, there does not appear to be a substantial

trade-off between time spent on school and work, either in the market or at home.
 36

The study cited above correlates the parental absence on child labor and school

attendance. The present researchers focused on the employment age, working hours, and

school attendees from number of child laborers. The studies were similar as both studies

utilize both gender as research main beneficiaries of the research.

The studies above correlates to the present study. The study was not affects the

variables and it serves as the basis of the present study for directing the study what should

the present study must be focused. The related studies provide sufficient evidences as the

child labor happens and caused to various aspects of different sectors of the society

specifically the children.

 37

Theoretical Framework

(Rogers & Swinnerton)

Exploitative Child Labor

Imperfect information with

regards whether the employment Firms choose whether or not to
opportunities is available to thir exploit their child workers.
children are exploitative or not.

According to Rogers and Swinnerton (2005) parents face imperfect information

about the risks their children confront upon entering the labor market, and that firms may

choose to exploit this information imperfection by employing children under forced labor

type conditions.
 38

Conceptual Framework

Exploitative Child Labor

Parent's Action Child Laborer's Action

Imperfect information
with regards the Firm chooses whether or Willingness of the child in
employment opportunities not to exploit their child entering a job for an
available for their children workers. income.
are exploitative or not.

In our model, an exploitative child labor is caused by parents’ action but also by

the child laborers action and decision. When it comes to parent’s decision, some of them

have imperfect information about the employment available for their children whether it is

exploitative or not. There are also some parents who firmly choose whether or not exploit

their child workers. On the other hand, the exploitation on child labor happens because of

the child’s decision. There are times that the child chooses to find any job without the

forced labor type condition by their parents because of their desire to have an amount of

money to buy what they want.

 39

Synthesis of the State of the Art

There were many past studies were conducted in various approaches. The recent

studies conclude in different views that the researchers aspire as an outcome of the present

study. The studies consist of similar variables including the child laborers itself, the

parents, the workplace, and its effects to the child in its development specifically on their

schooling. The studies contributed on how the present study process using approaches that

is appropriate and accurate for the research.

Makwinja’s study deem that child labor is a violation in the child rights. The study

focuses the child rights as it reflects how the child labor impedes its development as a child

and as a human utilizing the capability approach in perceiving the human rights and process

of education in the general perspective.

Also, Zaman and colleagues stretched their capacity within Bangladesh area wherein they

cited how the positive and pessimistic consequences of engaging in the workforce at the

early age. The study relates the results into other developing countries which may be our

approach of the research as its come up for the significance for the larger scope of the

study.

In addition, the group of Ibrahim studied the effects of child labor in physical and

psychosocial aspects in certain low and middle-income countries. The study utilized the

longitudinal method and other common methods in health impacts assessment. The study

aiming to reach out the policy making to impact and come close to its more value as a

study. And, we find the study of Rickey to strengthen how efficient did the child labor to

ruin one’s live whereas the study focuses in household and community characteristics from
 40

the data collected by the International Labor Organization. Poverty and access to programs

might have the causal aspect on child labor by the population’s lack of awareness.

As to continue on how poverty shove a child to work, Fernandez and Abocejo correlates

on how the incidence of poverty causing the existence of labor force among the children

and how this affects the school attendance of the children as students. The study considers

the variables in different region wherein the CARAGA, ARMM, and Zamboanga where

high number of poor schools' non-attendees’ child workers.

In some studies, like Nelson and Quiton analyzed that the reduction of working hours

and frequency of heavy physical work in the dropout rate. The study concluded that child

labor affects their health because of the heaviness of the work and exposure to parasites

and bacteria and in other time child laborers were exposed in extreme temperatures and

harmful chemicals. The negative factors might be useful for policy makers in reducing the

incidence of child labor.

On the near lines, Portner involved the parental absence as factor causing the

existence of a child in the workplace that resulting to either addition or reduction of school

attendance. The study therefore concluded that there are no effects on time allocation on

their venues of learning or non-learning capacity like between the time they spent on school

and work, either in the market or at home.

The study interrelates and drive the study to corresponds to other factors. These

factors might be the basis why children need to allocate their time for work rather than the

productive activities. The researchers correlate the factor include from the recent studies

as the background of the main subject of the study as the causal factor and trace their

relationships.
 41

Gap Bridged by the Study

There were studies have been conducted discussing the perceptions of parents and

employers on child labor. In relation with this, the level of awareness was eliciting by

knowing their understanding about the said issue. The present study focused on the parents

and employers of child as the sample.

Several studies looked into the major reasons why the issue on child labor exist in

different places around the world especially in developing countries while others are

centered on various factors which determined that a particular action to exploitation on

child labor. There are also focused on the jobs and chores which constitute on child labor

and there are also searched literature seem to study on the particular work engaged

frequently by the child.

Very few studies have been conducted that deal on determining the perception and

awareness about a particular law concerning the issue on child labor. This study excluded

the factors that brought to the existence of child labor but focuses on the awareness and

perceptions about the rights and protection must be given to every child laborers

corresponds to the policy. The idea and understanding on the rights and protection that

every child laborer must have the basis in choosing the specific sections under Republic

Act. 9231 that is utilize in determining the level of awareness and perception concerned on

that variable. These perceptions and awareness are not only from the parents and the

employers but also from the child laborer itself. These are the gaps ideally bridging by the

researcher.
 42

Republic Act No. 9231 is an act providing for the elimination of the worst forms of

child labor and affording stronger protection for the working child. This study is similar to

the foregoing studies since all the analyze the awareness and perception about the rights

and protection of child laborers. The only difference is the understanding on specific rights

and protection since the present study deal on the order stated on section 2,3 and 4 of

Republic Act No. 9231. Wherein the researchers enable to cite for their perception of the

variables including mainly the child laborers, their parents and employer, and the barangay

officials in relation to child labor. Also the study looked unto the level of awareness

quantitatively. The researchers assessing how aware they are that such policy exist and

proper care for the children is indicated.

The researchers were finding the truth from those speculations that the community

is prevalent on such issue and how it may affect those children that might represent the

other children with comparable situation in other communities. The researchers were

finding the best interventions to properly aware and/or aim to right some misleading

perceptions. These interventions aim to influence the other communities or come up for

other researches that may be able to placate the other factors relative to child labor issue.