The socio-economic factors associated with the street children phenomenon

Abstract

Kakamega town in which this study of street children was carried out, IS IN Kakamega District of Westem Province. Kenya. The Province is basically an agricultural region dominated by the Luhya community. The main objective of the study was to find out the relationship between socio-economic factors and the age at which a child first moves into the streets of Kakamega town. The study used a number of methods of data collection. The questionnaire based interview schedule was the most important data collection method which generated both qualitative and quantitative data. This was supplemented by unstructured questions and simple observation. The unit of analysis was the individual street child and the individual street child's parent. The sample size for the study was 58 street children and 39 street children's parents. Since the number of street children in Kakamega town is small. the researcher attempted as much as possible to interview all of them. Descriptive statistics such as percentages, means, modes, frequencies, and tables were mainly used in chapter four whereas inferential statistics such as multiple regression analysis and stepwise multiple regression analysis were used in chapter five. The study formulated one major hypothesis and eight minor hypotheses which were tested in chapter five. The major hypothesis was that the age at which a child first moves into the streets of Kakamega town depends on the combined effect of the following factors: Parental marital status. parental monthly income, parental educational levels, child's peer influence. child's relationship with the parents/guardians, child's number of siblings, child's birth order, and whether the child is an orphan or not. The minor hypotheses state that the age at which a child first moves into the streets depends on the individual effect of the above mentioned socio-economic factors. One of the main findings was that parental marital status, parental monthly income, parental educational levels, child's peer influence, child's relationship with the parents guardians, number of child's siblings, child's birth order and a child being an orphan are related to the age at which a child first moves into the streets. Multiple regression analysis shows that the socio-economic factors (defined as independent variables) collectively explain 61.6% of the Variance in the age at which a child first moves into the streets, whereas stepwise multiple regression shows that parental marital status, peer influence and child's birth order explain 22.1 %, 28.9%, and 8.4% respectively. Other factors such as parental educational levels, parental monthly income, child's relationship with parents guardians and child's siblings collectively explain (2.1 %). Being an Orphan does not appear to have any influence on the age at which a child first moves into the streets. The findings also show that the socio-economic factors advanced in this study contribute to but do not adequately account for the age at which a child first moves into the streets. The study therefore recommends a further research on the street children phenomenon in Kakamega town to establish the other explanatory factors. F or policy makers, the researcher recommends that they should liaise with Non-Governmental and Voluntary organizations to look into how the street children phenomenon call be minimized