THE EFFECT OF POVERTY ON THE NIGERIA CHILD: AN EXAMINATION OF IKPOBA –OKHA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1    BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Child poverty refers to the phenomenon of children living in poverty. This applies to children that come from poor families or orphans being raised with the minimum acceptable standards of living for the nation where that child lives are used to be poor. In developing countries these standard are lower and when combined with the increased number of orphans the effects are more extreme.
The legal definition of children in most countries is people under the age of eighteen; while biologically the transition from childhood to adulthood to said to occur with the onset of puberty. Culturally defining the end of childhood is more complex, and takes into account factors such as the commencement of work, end of schooling and marriage as well as class, gender and race. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) “Children living in poverty are those who experiences deprivation of the materials, spiritual and emotional resources needed to survive, develop and thrive, leaving them unable to enjoy their rights, achieve their full potentials or participate as full and equal members of the society”.
The Child Fund International (CFI) definition is based in Deprivation (lack of materialistic conditions and services). Exclusion (denial of rights and safety) and vulnerable (when society cannot deal with threats to children) other charitable organisations also uses this multidimensional approach to child poverty, defining it as a combination of economic, social, cultural, physical, environmental and emotional factors. These definitions suggest child poverty as multidimensional, relative to their current and changing living condition and complex interactions of the body, mind and emotions are involved.
The easiest way to qualify child poverty is be setting and absolute or relative monetary threshold. If a family does not earn above that threshold, the children of the family will be considered to live below the poverty line. Absolute poverty thresholds are fixed and generally only updated for price changes, whereas relative poverty threshold are developed with reference to the actual income of the population and reflect changes in consumption. The absolute poverty thresholds are the money needed to purchase a defined quantity of goods and services. While there is no exact standard used to set the thresholds, and it varies from country to country, it generally reflects the minimum income needed to acquire the necessities of life. Certain organisations, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Funds, use the absolute poverty thresholds of U.S$1 a day to measure poverty in developing countries. Since the 1960s, the US has use absolute poverty thresholds adjusted for family size and composition to determine those living in poverty. Europe and many other developed countries use a relative poverty threshold, typically 50% of the countries average income. Relative poverty does not necessarily mean the child is lacking anything but is more a reflection of inequality in society. Child poverty, when measure using relative thresholds, will only improve if low-income families benefit more from economic advances than well-off families. Measures of Child poverty using income thresholds will vary depending on whether relative or absolute poverty is measured and what relative measures, poverty is much higher in the U.S than in Europe, but if an absolute measure is used then poverty in some Europe countries is higher. It is argued that using income as the only threshold ignores the multidimensional aspect of child poverty, which includes consumption requirements, access to resources and the ability to interact in society safety and without discrimination.
1.2    STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Although difficult to accurately measure, its estimated child labour cause by poverty is about 150,000 children (5-14 years old) are involved in child labour worldwide. If we consider all young people who are under 18 years, some estimates are high as 246 million. Of these, nearly 70% work in hazardous conditions.
Child labour is a global problem. Regional estimates indicate that the largest number of child worker is in 5 to 14 age group are in the Asia and pacific region, where 127.3 million children work (19% of children in the region). In sub-Saharan Africa there is an estimated 48 million child workers – that’s almost one child in three (29%) below the age of 15 who is economically active. 16% of children work in Latin America and the Caribbean – that’s approximately 17.4 million children, and 15% of children in the middle East and North Africa are working. Finally, in developed and transition economic, 2.5 million and 2.4 million children are working respectively.
As we can see, child labour is a huge problem. Beyond these statistics, the real damage of child labour is the long-term consequences on a child’s inability to attain a decent quality life, in which they’re happy and healthy. Whatever the reasons of child labour, the effects are similarly damaging. Child labour interferes with a development, violates their rights, and is an obstacle to gaining basic education.
Without going to school children labourers are unlikely to learn how to read and write, meaning they will not enjoy the vital benefits and freedoms that literally brings. Finding from Brazil by the World Bank force reduces life time earning s by probability of being poor later in life.
The most compelling reasons why children work in poverty. The income that a child can bring to a poor household can be vital to a family’s survival. Yetpoverty does not fully explain child labour, as countries may be equally poor but have relatively high or low levels of child labour.
1.3     PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The general purpose of this research study is to examine the perceived effect of poverty on the Nigeria child.
1.4    STATEMENT OF RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
A hypothesis can be seen as a claim made about a population subject to test to determine its validity. It is often stated in form of a relationship between a dependent variable and an independent variable (Yomere and Agbonifoh, 1999).
Below are some of the hypothesis for this study
Hypothesis I
Ho (Null Hypothesis): There is no significant relationship between poverty on the Nigeria child and child labour
Hi (Alternative Hypothesis): There is a significant relationship between poverty on the Nigeria child and child labour
Hypothesis II
Ho (Null Hypothesis): There is no significant relationship between poverty and unrest society/ crime
Hi (Alternative Hypothesis): There is significant relation between poverty and unrest society/ crime.
1.5    OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The general objective of this research study is to examine
1.    The extent of Child poverty;
2.    The effect of poverty to children under the age of 18 years;
3.    The negative aspect of child labour; and
4.    The comparism between child poverty and child labour.
1.6    SIGNIFICANT OF THE STUDY
This research work will be of benefits to the following individuals, ministry of women affairs and social development, legislative bodies, government and other non-government agencies.
The study will be of benefits to ministry of women affairs and social development and their various sub-department of social welfare, which will guide in solution making which would hold out to the menace that is steadily eating the standard ways of children up bringing in the society like a cancer.
Particularly interest would be paid on the reason of child labour and child poverty and how it affects children in our given society.
Moreso, It will also be of benefit to our parents for them to know that, they have the responsibility of bringing up their children for better living, and that when this children are deprived of their right at early age, will definitely have negative effect on them as they grow up in the society.
1.7    SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This research study investigates the effect of poverty on the Nigeria Child of Ikpoba-OkhaLocal Government Area, Edo state.
1.8    RESEARCH QUESTIONS
For the purpose of this research to be achieved, the following research questions will be raised:
(1)    What is poverty
(2)    What is meant by child labour?
(3)    Why do children work?
(4)    What are the measurements of child poverty?
(5)    What are the effects of poverty to children?
(6)    How can we eliminate child labour in Ikpoba-Okha community?
1.9    DEFINITION OF THE TERMS
Effect: A change which is a result or consequence of an action or other causes.
Poverty: Is generally scarcity or death or the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money.
Child: The legal definitions of Child generally refer to a minor. Otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority. According to Child Right Act (2003), child refers to children between the ages of 5 – 14 years of age.
Labour: This refers to work, especially physical work are aimed at earning a reward or pay.
Income: This refers to money receives especially on a regular basis, for work or through investment.
Deprivation: This refers to the damaging lack of material benefit considered to be necessities of life in the society.
Vulnerable: This refers to the exposed possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally.