Almost half of the Palestinian society are younger than 18 years of age, says PCBS on Palestinian Child Day

RAMALLAH, The estimated number of children (under 18 years) is expected to be 2.35 million in Palestine by mid-2022, with 1.20 million males and 1.15 million females, representing 43.9% of the total population (41.7% in the West Bank, and 47.3% in Gaza Strip), according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) marking Palestinian Child Day, which coincides today.

It said that according to the records of the Defense for Children International Palestine (DCIP), 78 children under 18 years were killed by Israeli army gunfire in 2021, 17 in the West Bank and 61 in the Gaza Strip; 26 of them aged 0-8 years, 17 aged 9-12 years, 20 aged 13-15 years and 15 children aged 16-17 years.

In addition, data from the Palestinian Prisoner Society showed that 160 children are incarcerated in Israel for their resistance against the occupation representing 3.6% of the total number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Data also showed that there is a decline in the percentage of early marriage for those under the age of 18 for both sexes, where it reached 11.9% of the total number of registered marriages among females in 2020 (4.3% in the West Bank and 19.3% in Gaza Strip) compared with 24% in 2010. The percentage of early marriage among males under 18 years reached 0.5% of the total number of registered marriages in 2020 compared to 2% in 2010.

Data showed that the percentage of employed children (paid or unpaid) reached about 2.5% of the total number of children (10-17 years) in 2021: 3.8% in the West Bank and 0.9% in the Gaza Strip (4.8% male children and 0.2% female children).

Moreover, the percentage of children enrolled in schools and engaged in the labor market reached 0.9% (1.5% in the West Bank and 0.2% in Gaza Strip). As for gender distribution, the percentage was 1.7% for male children and 0.1% for female children in 2021.

The number of school students for the scholastic year 2020/2021 in Palestine reached about 1.34 million students, out of which 1.078 million were students in the elementary stage (50.8% males and 49.2% females), and 260,000 students in the secondary stage (45.0% males and 55.0% females).

The percentage of literate females is significantly higher than males, said the PCBS, as 52.7% of children aged 7-14 years demonstrate basic reading skills; of which 47.8% for males while it was 57.3% for females during 2019/2020. In the West Bank, 57.6% of the children were successful in obtaining basic reading skills while this percentage declined to 47.0% in Gaza Strip.

Source: Palestine News & Info Agency

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