This study is a companion to an earlier study on Gender and Conflict in Mindanao that was heavily focused on the impact of armed conflict on women (including young women), and stems from a need to understand the situation of young men in the context of the conflict in Mindanao. It also complements a study conducted in early 2005 that examines the impact of the conflict on men, women and youth in five provinces of Mindanao.

A review of selected social science materials on child work produced in the last two decades reveal the changing trends and increasing diversity in the understanding of child work. Such changes and diversity of ideas are reflective of the disparate array of stakeholders and their varying, and sometimes contradicting, views on the subject. This part discusses what I consider as the dominating themes in the discourse on child work in the Philippines based on a review of selected social science materials produced in the last twenty years.