Around 18.6 percent of Filipino children aged 5 to 24 were not attending school, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Based on the 2022 Annual Poverty Indicators Survey, PSA data showed that the primary reasons behind this were the following: finished schooling or finished post-secondary/college (21.1 percent), employment (19.7 percent), lack of personal interest (12.6 percent), marriage (10.7 percent), and high cost of education (9.9 percent).

Across the 17 regions, CALABARZON posted the highest percentage of children out of school following employment (28.3 percent), BARMM due to financial concerns (23.2 percent) and family matters (16.2 percent), and MIMAROPA because of illness and/or disability (7.2 percent).

Meanwhile, marriage was recorded as the top reason in Cagayan Valley (18.7 percent). Finished schooling (28.8 percent), along with lack of personal interest (24.1 percent) was the main cause in the Cordillera Administrative Region.