Poverty Of Parents And Child Labour In Benin City: A Preliminary Account Of Its Nature And Implications

Abstract

This work starts from the basic premise that poverty, a major problem of rapid urbanization in developing nations, is a major contributory factor in the growth and exacerbation of child labour. Child labour in Benin City reflect prevalent urban poverty which compel parents to send children of school age to work to boost family income. For many hours a day, children of poor parents are engaged in economic ventures such as street hawking, cart/wheel barrow pushing, bus conducting, plaiting of hair as well as being apprenticed to artisans. By focusing on the linkage between parent poverty and exacerbation of child labour, it is expected that some primary data will be generated that will assist in understanding the root causes and implications of the phenomenon in an urban city like Benin as well as appreciate the burden of these juvenile workers in a developing economy.


JORIND Vol. 3 (2) 2005: pp. 111-117