Working children and young people
Perceptions of child labour among working children in Ibadan, Nigeria
How do working children themselves perceive child labour?
Authors:
F. O. Omokhodion; S. I. Omokhodion; T. O. Odusote
Publisher:
Consortium for Street Children , 2006
This paper presents working children’s perspective of child labour, its benefits and disadvantages and the working children’s perceptions of themselves, and their aspirations for the future. It is based on a cross-sectional study that was carried out among working children in a large market in Ibadan, south-west Nigeria. Questionnaires were administered to all consenting children. A total of 225 children, 132 females and 93 males, participated in the survey. Their age range was 8–17 years.
Results presented in the paper include that:
- a total of 103 respondents (46%) were currently in school while 117 (52%) were out of school
- five respondents (2%) had never attended school
- a total of 104 (46%) thought that children should not work; however, when asked about the benefits of working, 81 working children (36%) felt that work provided a source of income for them, 52 (23%) indicated that it was a way of helping their parents and 39 (17%) thought it was part of their training to be responsible adults
- bad company, ill health and road traffic accidents were the perceived ill effects of child labour
- the majority of the children interviewed were aspiring towards artisan trades and very few towards professional or office jobs
- a total of 106 (47%) children perceived themselves as less fortunate than their peers
- fifty-five children (24%) thought that child labour was a sign of deprivation; the perception that child labour is a sign of deprivation was more prevalent among child workers whose highest educational attainment was primary school, child workers who had worked for more than 6 months and those whose earnings were small
The study concludes that while it is desirable to abolish child labour, the reality is that many families are forced to send their children to work to augment the family income. In cases where work seems to be the only option for survival, adverse outcomes in child development can be minimised if children are allowed to continue with their education and if the period of time engaged in child labour is minimised. The authors recommend that school education for children should be a priority even when the harsh economic realities in their families force parents to send them to work outside the home.
