Cambodia has 755,250 child workers: survey

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PHNOM PENH, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- An estimated 755,250 children in Cambodia are engaged in economic activities, according to the Cambodia Labor Force and Child Labor Survey Report 2012 released on Wednesday.

The survey, conducted by the National Institute of Statistics and the International Labor Organization, found that the country has an estimated population of 14.9 million in 2012, in which about 3.95 million persons, or 26.6 percent, were aged between 5 and 17.

There are 755,250 child workers, accounting for 19.1 percent of the total, according to the survey.

"About 236,498, or 31.3 percent of them, were children in hazardous labor," the report said. "Thus, five of every nine child laborers were engaged in hazardous labor."

Child laborers received between 25 U.S. dollars and 125 U.S. dollars remuneration per month, it added.

"Fifty-five percent of the child laborers had either dropped out of school or had never attended school. However, 45 percent of the child laborers were attending school at the time of the survey, " it said.

Planning Minister Chhay Than said the Cambodian government has moved the elimination of child labor high on its national policy agenda and has been demonstrating its commitment to combat the worst forms of child labor by promoting children's education and improving the living conditions of Cambodian individuals.

"Eliminating child labor in Cambodia is one of the most urgent challenges of the government," he said at the survey launching.

He said the report highlighted the important characteristics of the child population, the economic activities of children and the estimated extent of child labor and children in hazardous labor.

"I hope that the report will be useful, particularly for planners and policy makers," he said.

Hang Lina, director general of the National Institute of Statistics, said the survey, held from February to April last year, involved a sample of 9,600 households across all 23 provinces and the capital Phnom Penh.

Copyright 2013 Xinhua News Agency.