DOLE: New forms of child labor emerging

MANILA, Philippines — Three new forms of child labor in which young children work without pay are now emerging in the country, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

Ma. Karina Perida-Trayvilla, DOLE’s Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns (BWSC) director, identified own-use production work as a new form of child labor.

This involves production of goods and services for own final use such as producing and processing for storage of agricultural, fishing and gathering products. 

“This type of work can also involve cleaning, maintaining one’s own dwelling or premises,” Trayvilla disclosed recently.

She said the second type of child labor is unpaid trainee work. 

In this case, Trayvilla said, children perform work for others without pay to acquire job experience or skills, including training or re-training schemes within employment promotion programs.

The third type is volunteer work where a non-compulsory work is performed for others without pay through mutual aid or community-based groups of which the volunteer is a member.

According to Trayvilla, there is no factual data on how many child workers are currently employed into these three types of child labor.

Child labor or the employment of children under 15 years old is considered illegal in the country.

Trayvilla said she already recommended to Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III the conduct of research to determine the extent of these new forms of child labor.

She said the new forms of work arrangement, particularly on unpaid household work, must be included in the Labor Force Survey to be conducted this month.

“For policy makers, this is vital in providing appropriate program responses,” Trayvilla said.

Recently, Trayvilla attended the Training on Building National Capacity in Child Labor and Forced Labor Data Analysis held in Thailand.

“One of the major highlights of the training was the discussion on new statistical measurement standards for child labor,” she said.

Trayvilla said new statistical measurement is necessary to align the Resolution on Child Labor Statistics with the Resolution on Work, Employment and Labor Underutilization.

“The amended resolution is important because this will provide the countries an accurate assessment of the real work performed by children making these activities visible as they are previously hidden and not statistically measured,” she pointed out.

The International Labor Organization said the emerging work arrangements must be measured to determine the occurence of child labor.