Socio-Economic Determinants of Street Children Category and Their Occupational Choice: Evidence from the Regional State of Oromia, Ethiopia

Abstract

Street children in Ethiopia face complex and interwoven socio-economic problems and thereby became the most vulnerable groups of the population. In the backdrop of association between category of children and their occupational choice, this study attempts to identify the socio-economic factors determining the likelihood of children becoming a member of street children’s group and their occupational choice. Sample respondents of 200 street children were collected using multi-stage sampling. The analysis used the Chi-Square test to study the association between category of children and their occupational choice. Empirical evidence on category-wise variation in street children characteristics suggests that some socio-economic factors (educational level, activities with friends, current friends, and distance of house from their service points) and means of livelihood are significantly associated with category of the street children.    Finally, the qualitative response model was used and its results show family size, gender and punishment as the common identified socio-economic factors, which determine the category of street children and their occupational choice.