THE COVID-19 pandemic has resulted to many people losing their jobs – some temporarily, others permanently. These unfortunate people and their families would likely be ushering the Yuletide season with empty stomachs.
We are worried over the consequent effects of this, most especially to children. But while, indeed, COVID-19 is unprecedented, it must also be pointed out that even before the pandemic, joblessness was already a problem; COVID-19 simply worsened it. Despite the hype of the government’s Build, Build, Build project, the economy remains weak and unable to generate enough jobs with decent wages. As a result, the affected families still face huge barriers in making both ends meet.
The increase in unemployment rate usually comes with spike in hunger and malnutrition with parents having a hard time providing the education and health needs of their children, especially that such services are mostly privatized.
The issue of joblessness and low wages are old problems that have immense impact to a great number of children living in urban centers. However, the clamor of the working class for genuine reforms seems to be falling on death ears. For instance, the promise to end contractualization has not been fulfilled. At the same time, workers struggle to survive their families with meager minimum wages.
Also, the high prices of basic commodities aggravate the condition of poor families. And the lack of job opportunities will further push workers to seek employment abroad. In this situation, many children will be further deprived of the chance to live under the care of their parents who resort to working abroad in order to provide them a better living condition. We’ve seen the social cost of migration and its negative consequences.
If the situation continues, other child protection concerns will also worsen such as child labor, prostitution, online sexual exploitation of children, among others.
The public must persist in calling for economic programs that truly benefit marginalized families. The government should focus on generating jobs with decent wages and take appropriate legislative action to end all forms of contractualization.
