Little Children Supporting Families: Children working on the streets of Addis Ababa

Little Children

Sustaining Families Children Working on the Streets of Addis

Emebet Mulugeta (Ph.D.)

Presented at the East African Regional Symposium on Child Work/Child Labour, Addis Ababa, 20-21 March 2014

Presentation Outline Background

Objectives

Methodology

Findings:

The Children

Working, Earning, Spending and Saving

Supporting and Sustaining Families

Future Plans

Conclusions and Policy Implications

Children Sustaining Families

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Background

High prevalence of working children in

Latin America, Asia and Africa.

Most have economic contributions,

however how they do it, in what ways is

not sufficiently explored, and the

variations among the children and the

types of support they offer are not

sufficiently discussed.


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Objectives

Describe the diversity among children

working on the streets;

Describe the kind of relationship the

children have with their family;

Highlight their role in supporting and

sustaining families; and

Discuss claimed opportunities and the

challenges encountered.


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Methodology Qualitative approaches, the main data

collection instrument interviews (NOV 2008 & June 2010);

Purposive sampling

Area – Merkato, Kirkos, Kolfe, and Shiro Meda;

Interviewees – purposive sampling complemented by snowball:

32 children under 18, 6 girls and 26 boys;

Analyses

Thematic analysis. Children Sustaining Families

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Findings The Children

32 children: 26 boys and 6 girls.

Age ranges from 8 to 16, the median age being 13.

Seventeen children came from rural areas, and the rest (15) were from Addis.

Among the rural children, except 2 the rest from SNNPR:

The living arrangement varies from rural to urban areas: Addis: 10 among 15 children of Addis live at least with one

relatives.

Rural: close to half (8) with a brother and sometimes with a brother and other friends. Except 3, the rest live with relatives.


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The Children Continued …

Both Addis and rural children have close relationship

with families.

Thirteen of the 17 children from the rural areas have

families working on subsistence farming. Some

mothers do petty trading.

Most of parents of children in Addis are engaged in

low earning jobs. Implications on life situation: housing, meals, and others

All the Addis children go to school, except one girl

Rural only 6 attend school.


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Work, Earning and Spending

Work and Earning

Thirteen sell various items: plastic bags, chewing gums, candies, lottery tickets, and other goods;

Ten shine shoes and the rest provide small changes for taxi drivers, sell coffee, injera and apprenticing in a shoe workshop.

Daily income ranges from Birr 4 to Birr 23, the average being Birr 12.


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Spending

Food is one of the expenses: except 4 all

Addis children eat their meals at home; 4

eat one meal, breakfast or small snacks

for 2 to 5 Birr.

Children from rural areas eat at least 2

meals out: breakfast is between 3.25 to 4

Birr and lunch or dinner between 5 to 8

Birr.


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Spending Continued … There are many children who skip meals:

Do you cook at home, for dinner may be?

If somebody has dinner they bring it and we eat. And if we don’t have dinner we will have just coffee and go to bed (Paulos, 8 years old boy).

Is this [4 Birr] for lunch, or is that what you spend per day?

This is only for breakfast. I don’t eat lunch. “aymechim”.

Is this what you always have for breakfast?

Sometimes I eat my breakfast and lunch together. But sometimes I only have biscuit for breakfast (Tadele, a 14 years old boy).


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Spending Continued …

Most of the rural children also have to pay

rent:

How much do you pay for rent per month?

250 Birr. But there are five of us living together

and we pay 50 Birr each (Yakob, a 16 yrs old

boy).

How much do you pay per month for rent?

250 Birr/ month (Tadele 14 yrs old boy).


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Savings After the expenses food, rent, clothes and school

materials, except a few children, all save in various ways: with a brother or other trusted person; bank (a small wooden box ); iqub (a traditional saving scheme), etc.

What do you do with the money you are left with?

I save it.

Where do you keep it?

At home (Tadele, a 14 yrs old boy).

Do you save money?

Yes.

Where do you save your money?

I have a bank at home (Sophia, a 15 yrs old girl).


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Savings Continued … Do you save money?

Yes, I have a bank.

How much money do you have?

It was before, but now I don’t save I have started

iqub.

You have iqub?

Yes.

How much is it that you pay for your iqub?

5 birr per day (Messay, an 11 yrs old boy).


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Supporting Families Savings are used for various purposes. The

major one is supporting families. For children

from SNNPR, the major highlight is going for

Meskel or Ramadan.

What are your plans for the iqub money?

When I collect the iqub money, I will save it with one

of the older friends I live with. Then I will join another

iqub to save enough money to buy the things for

Meskel for my family. If I have enough money then I

will buy myself some clothes.


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Supporting Families Continued …

Did you send money to your parents since you came

to Addis?

Yes.

How much?

I sent 300 Birr during Ramadan.

What are your plans for the iqub money?

I want to buy clothes for my mother and my father.

I want to send them money (Sophia, a 15 yrs old

girl).


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They also want to buy their families cattle or small animals to raise and generate income, rebuild leaking houses, etc.

How much money did you send them so far?

I sent 50 Birr once and later I sent 100 Birr to my father to buy sheep (Paulos, an 8 yrs old boy).

Did you send them any money since you came here?

Yes. I sent them 300 Birr to buy sheep to rear.

Have you asked them if they bought the sheep?

Yes. They did (Kibru a 13 yrs old boy).


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For children in Addis the support is mostly,

on day-to-day basis to meet the food

needs and other necessities of the family.

What do you do with the money you make now working on Saturdays?

I give it to my mother.

What does she do with it?

She buys food for us. (Abdulahi, a 12 yrs old boy).


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When you come back from school, do you ask

your mother if she has something for dinner?

Yes. But I usually meet her as she brings the

children from school. And I ask her then. If she

doesn’t have food I take one birr for bus and go

to work….If she tells me there is nothing, I send

my exercise books with her and rush to Merkato

to work. (Zeberga, a 12 yrs old boy).


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Supporting Families Continued … Many of the children continue working

and supporting out of sense of obligations.

What does your mother say about your work now, you are able to support yourself and support your family too.

She is happy I am able to work and make money. But sometimes I don’t like to work. I want to rest and hang out with my friends.… But when I remember that the money I bring home is necessary for the family, I stop thinking like this (Kemal, a 14 yrs old boy).


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Future Plans

The children have various dreams for their

future. The Addis children talk of professions

such as a teacher, doctor, engineer and

some talked about owning a business.


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Future Plans Continued …

Some are realistic like the boy who saved money and planning to open a small shop.

How much do you have in your bank now?

8,000 birr.

Do you think you have enough money for the work you are planning to do?

Yes. I don’t want to spend all my money, since I am going to start a new business. It may even go bankrupt. So I don’t want to spend much money at first. It will just be a small shop for a start (Nisru, a 16 yrs old boy from Addis).


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What would you like to do in the future?

Shoe. Of course.

Shoe making?

Yes. Making shoes and selling them. Just like him

(Abebe, a 16 yrs old boy).

The rural children: a driver, selling clothes,

owning a shop. Some have vague and

diffused plans: going abroad and living

comfortable.


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Considering the situation that they

currently live, it would be difficult for many

to realize their dreams.

Both rural and urban children leave from

hand-to-mouth, which leaves them

nothing to build on to achieve their

dreams.


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Challenges

The children encounter various challenges

and not all appreciate their experiences.

You don’t want to be a big businessman?

I hate it. Even now I am obligated to work.

What is that you hate about it?

I get tired when I go around selling my things, the

heat and everything… (Hassen, a 12 yrs old boy).


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Challenges Continued …

In general, what do you say is the biggest problem which is preventing you from going somewhere in your life?

If I do not do listro… anyway, it is not something I can describe. It is very hard. When you sit here people say lots of things to you. Do you understand? It is no use to list all (Wubalem, a 16 yrs old girl).

Didn’t your mother say no when you asked her for permission to work?

No they are the ones who told me that I should start to work.

Were you happy to start work like your friends?

No. I do not like it (Brook a 13 yrs old boy).


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Challenges Continued … The unhappiness is not shared by many of

the rural children.

Now you are working, and going to school and looking forward to go for Meskel, are you happy?

Yes.

What makes you happy?

I am happy to take umbrella, dress, shoes, and shawl for my mother. Clothes, shoes, exercise books and bag for my sister too. And to take kerosene, shiro, berbere, butter for home. I will also take soap (Melaku, an 8 year old boy).


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Challenges Continued …

Are you happy with your life?

Yes. Very much. I am very happy for being able to

work and at the same time go to school. Besides, I

am doing good at school (Yakob, a 16 year old

boy).


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Conclusions

We find diverse group of children working on the streets.

Most children work out of necessity to support their families and themselves.

They support and sustain families in various ways.

All the children have close relationship with their families.

The rural children keep in touch with their families, through visits, letters, messengers, telephone calls.

Not all like this responsibilities, nor appreciate their experiences.

Some talked about opportunities.


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Conclusions Continued…

As discussed by in Bronfenbrener’s

Ecological Theory of Development,

individuals are the outcome of not only

the self, but of the influences from the

environment at different levels.

Microsystem: their families are low income

and they need the money earned by the

children, at best the children need to

support themselves. In some cases the

children are asked to work.


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Conclusions Continued…

Mesosystem: the interaction created by the family and the surrounding culture, formal and informal rules (exosystem), encourages or pushes the children to work and support families.

Chronosystem: The area where most rural children came from is known for its high population density and food insecurity. In addition to the long history of migration, this problem encourages children to migrate and work to support families.


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Policy Implications

Diversity of children working on the streets.

Influences of social and systemic factors

at various levels and the need to address

these.


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Data & Analytics

Little Children Supporting Families: Children working on the streets of Addis Ababa