De Guzman out-of-school youth figure wrong

Meron tayong halos limang milyon na out-of-school youth. Tapos 54 percent ng mga unemployed ngayon ay mga kabataan (We have almost five million out-of-school youth, and 54 percent of the unemployed are youth).

— Leodigario “Leody” de Guzman, Harapan 2019: The ABS-CBN Senatorial Town Hall Debate, March 3, 2019

Senate hopeful Leody de Guzman’s out-of-school youth figure is 1.4 million more than the official estimate.

The 2017 Annual Poverty Indicators Survey recorded a total 3.6 million out-of-school children and youth, of whom 83.1 percent were 16 to 24 years old; 11.2 percent, 12 to 15 years old; and 5.7 percent, six to 11 years old.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) defines out-of-school children and youth as:

Family members six to 14 years old who are not attending formal school; and family members 15 to 24 years old who are currently out of school, not gainfully employed, and have not finished college or post-secondary course.

De Guzman, whose claim on unemployment in the same ABS-CBN debate has been previously fact-checked by the University of the Philippines Journalism Department, is also slightly off on his unemployed youth figure.

PSA data as of January 2019 show Filipinos 15 to 24 years old comprise 43.7 percent, not 54 percent, of the total unemployed Filipinos.

References

ABS-CBN News. (2019, March 3). Harapan 2019: The ABS-CBN senatorial town hall debate. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dOSTBI9YYk (1:19:39-1:19:58)

Philippine Statistics Authority. (2019) Employment rate in January 2019 is estimated at 94.8 percent. Retrieved from http://www.psa.gov.ph/content/employment-rate-january-2019-estimated-948-percent

Philippine Statistics Authority. (2018). Employment situation in January 2018. Retrieved from http://www.psa.gov.ph/content/employment-situation-january-2018-final-results?fbclid=IwAR2oS21T10F4ec1AJMh1GMWAkrlNb15tu_tYYaxcXClL9csYDhbMQPZ-OG4

Philippine Statistics Authority (2018, June 6). Nine percent of Filipinos aged 6 to 24 years are out of school. Retrieved from https://psa.gov.ph/content/nine-percent-filipinos-aged-6-24-years-are-out-school-results-2017-annual-poverty-indicators

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