Socio-demographic profile of child laborers in selected cities of Cavite / by Wilmer E. Ruiz.

Thesis (BS Economics--Business Economics) Cavite State University

Includes bibliographical references.

College of Economics, Management, and Development Studies (CEMDS)

RUIZ, WILMER ESPINELI. Socio Demographic Profile of Child Laborers in Selected Cities of Cavite.Undergraduate Thesis. Bachelor of Science in Economics major in Business Economics. Cavite State University.Indang, Cavite. April 2015. Adviser: Dr.Luzviminda A. Rodrin.
The study was conducted in selected cities of Cavite: Cavite City, Imus City, and Dasmarifias City in November 2014 to March 2015. The study was conducted to describe the socio demographic characteristics of the child laborers in selected cities of Cavite in terms of age, sex, educational attainment, household size and sibling position; describe the nature of work of the child laborers; determine the level of income of child laborers; describe the relationship between nature of work and socio-demographic characteristics of the child laborers; describe the relationship between level of income and socio-demographic characteristics of the child laborers; and identify the problems encountered by the children in their life of work. Data were obtained through personal interview with the aid of questionnaires. A total of 100 participants were taken using purposive sampling. Data were analyzed using frequency count, percentage, range and mean. The findings revealed that the average age of the child laborers was 15 years. On the average, the household size of children was eight members. The sibling position ranged from first to 14th members of the family. Seventy- seven percent of the children were male and 23 percent was female. The average working hours of children per day was 9 hours. Most of the participants who were engaged in construction worked from 2 to 12 hours per day. The level of income of the child laborers ranged from P200 to P9000 with an average of P3352. Majority of the participants who belong to the lowest income bracket of P200 to P2000 were inclined to vending. Majority of the participants who were 15 to 18 years old were engaged in construction. For those who were engaged in vending, 36 percent were 12 to 14 years old while 90 percent in scavenging belong to the 8 to 11 years old bracket. Twenty - seven percent of the participants who were 15 to 18 years old served as helpers. Majority of the participants who reached Grade I to Grade III were engaged in scavenging. Forty percent of the participants with a household size of 7 to lOmembers were inclined as helpers. The data showed that majority of the children were in the first and second sibling positions. It implies that being the eldest or second in their family the burden of raising additional income was handed to them even at an early age. Almost one half of the participants (46.3%) who were inclined in construction were in the first and second sibling position. Thirty — three percent of the participants who were inclined in construction were in the third and fourth sibling position and 26 percent who were helpers were in the fifth and above sibling position. More than one half of the participants who were engaged in construction were male and 23 percent were female who were engaged in helper. Among the problems mentioned, difficulty in work and tiredness ranked first for those who were engaged in vending and construction. Children who were engaged in vending mentioned that their main reason for working is to augment family income. Those who were engaged in scavenging mentioned parents expected them to work. It is recommended that government agencies like Department of Labor and Employment and the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the United Nation Children's Fund should focus on formulating better programs to improve the condition of the child laborers. Institutions in the community such as the Barangay Council for the protection of children should be strengthened. The role of law enforcement agencies, particularly in the detection as well as intelligence and rescue operation for child laborers had to be strengthened.

Submitted to the University Library 02/14/2017 T-6496