Children accounted for the largest number of poor persons among the basic sectors, at 13.4 million in 2003 and 14.4 million in 2006. The proportion of poor children living in rural areas was twice as much as those living in urban areas. The Child Development Index (CDI)14 fell from 0.779 in 2003 to 0.729 in 2006 (NSCB). Children in especially difficult circumstances include street children, victims of child abuse and commercial sexual exploitation, child victims of prostitution and pornography, children in conflict with the law, children in situations of armed conflict, children with disabilities, child victims of illegal recruitment and trafficking, and child laborers.
Working children are a significant portion of the Filipino workforce. There are about 2.1 million economically active children in the Philippines, aged 5-17 years old, majority of whom were males between 15-17 years old (DOLE-BLES). Across industries, 55.6 percent of the working children were engaged in agriculture, hunting and forestry. A significant portion numbering around 201,000 were employed in private household, a majority of them working as laborers and unskilled workers. Child work affects the performance of children in school resulting in low grades, absenteeism, tardiness, and lack of interest.
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14 The CDI is a composite index measuring average achievement in the three basic dimensions captured in the human development index, adjusted to account inequalities between women and men (UNICEF, 2010).