Journal of Economics, Finance and Accounting Studies ISSN: 2709-0809 DOI: 10.32996/jefas Journal Homepage: www.al-kindipublisher.com/index.php/jefas JEFAS AL-KINDI CENTER FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT Copyright: © 2022 the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Published by Al-Kindi Centre for Research and Development, London, United Kingdom. Page | 222 | RESEARCH ARTICLE The Relationship of Child Labor and Globalization in the Philippines Adeline S. Sandoval 1 , Cherry Anne G. Edora 2 , ✉ Narali D.R. Esteban 3 and Asst. Prof. Marie Antoinette L. Rosete 4 1234 Business Economics, College of Commerce and Business Administration, University of Santo Tomas, Philippines Corresponding Author: Cherry Anne G. Edora, E-mail: cherryanne.edora.comm@ust.edu.ph | ABSTRACT The problem of child labor has long been studied by economists, and most of it focuses on the microeconomic perspective. For this study, the researchers have decided to shift their focus to macroeconomic analysis. This study focuses on the effects of globalization and economic growth on the prevalence of child labor in the Philippines, mainly focusing on globalization, by using time-series analysis. Studies suggested that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between globalization and child labor in developing countries, while other studies have determined a U-shaped relationship. The findings of this study reveal that there is no U-shape relationship between the variables but instead follows a linear relationship between globalization and child labor in the Philippine context. However, the lack of data and research publication on a national scale could influence the empirical results. Furthermore, this research can be used as literature in future studies. | KEYWORDS Globalization, Child Labor, Economic Growth, FDI, Trade Openness, Philippines | ARTICLE DOI: 10.32996/jefas.2022.4.1.14 1. Introduction Child labor has been one of the socio-economic issues in the Philippines that stems from different factors. The International Labour Organization defines “child labor” as the deprivation of their childhood as they participate in different work variati ons that could be harmful to the children. 1 Child labor is also defined as "the participation of a child in a variety of work situations, on a more or less regular basis, to earn a livelihood for him or herself or for the family" (Alojado-Puno, 2016). Children aged 15 to below 18 years old who are permitted to work in any economic activities under the responsibility and supervision of his/her parents or legal guardian, but not more than eight (8) hours a day and in no case beyond forty (40) hours a week. Research about child labor has experienced a significant upsurge for the past years. Despite this augmented attention, child labor remains a significant problem in different countries (Fors, 2012). According to Rahman and Khanam (2012), a decreasing trend for the number of child labourer is observed, yet the extent of global child labour is still alarming. Moreover, they found that the empirical evidence on different countries and their regions gives mixed results regarding the child labor-globalization nexus. Edmonds and Theoharides (2018) state that despite strong economic progress in the Philippines over the last several decades, one in five Filipino families continue to remain below the poverty line, which results in the children in the family engaged in child labor. Based on the 2011 survey on Children, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) 2011 found that 2.1 million Filipino children aged 5 to 17 years old were engaged in child labor. 4 Moreover, Fernandez and Abocejo (2014) find that in the Philippines, child labor remains multifaceted and a great cause of concern among governments and international organizations, predominantly in developing countries where number of children are exposed to impoverished conditions and incomplete social welfare. The problem of child labor has long been studied by economists, and most of it focuses on the microeconomic perspective. For this study, the researchers have decided to shift their focus to macroeconomic analysis, specifically on macroeconomic variables such as economic growth and globalization. Thus, to determine the relationship between child labor in the Philippines and globalization, this research paper will focus on the question: To what extent and in what ways does globalization affect child labor