Peer-reviewed article
Ocio-Economic Factors That Influence Child Labour in Nigeria
Ijeoma N Okoronkwo, Nnaji Akuchukwu Oprah ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined which socio-economic factors influence child labour in Nigeria, surveying 621 respondents and conducting interviews. The researchers found that a child's age was the only factor with a statistically significant relationship to child labour, while religion, education, marital status, sex, and occupation showed no significant relationship. The study concludes that child labour has negative effects on children and recommends stronger enforcement, public awareness campaigns, and involvement of community leaders and government to end the practice.
Key points
- Age was the only socio-economic factor with a statistically significant relationship to child labour practices (χ2=14.577, p=.000)
- Religion, education, marital status, sex, and occupation showed no statistically significant relationship with child labour
- Regression analysis showed that marital status had the most positive influence on child labour practices
- The study involved 615 quantitative responses and 6 in-depth interviews
- The researchers recommend sensitization programmes, legal punishment for offenders, and involvement of government, community leaders, and the public to eradicate child labour
Limitations
The study is descriptive and examines associations rather than causal relationships or mechanisms. The document does not provide details on the specific age groups studied, the types of child labour investigated, or how child labour was measured, which limits understanding of the practical significance of the findings.
Abstract
This study examined the socio-economic factors influencing child labour in Nigeria. The instruments for data collection were the questionnaire and the in-depth interview schedules. The sample size used for the study was 621 (615 for the quantitative distribution and 6 for the IDIs). The quantitative data gathered were analysed with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences using percentages (%) and Chi-square (χ2) statistics was used to test the three hypotheses, while the qualitative data gathered was analysed in themes as complement to the quantitative data. The study found that religious sex (χ2 = (615), .081; df = 1, pے =.776), education (χ2 = (N615), 2.024; df = 1, pے =.155) and marital status (χ2 = (N=615), .055; df = 1, pے =.815) had no statistically significant relationship with the effect of child labour practice while only age (χ2= (N=615), 14.577; df=1, pے =.000) had a statistical significant relationship. Furthermore, sex (χ2 = (N=615), .678; df = 1, pے =.410), marital status (χ2 = (N= 615), .012; df = 1, pے =.911), religious affiliation (χ2 = (N=615), .003; df = 1, pے =.957), education (χ2 = (N= 615), .310; df = 1, pے =.578) and occupation (χ2 = (N=615), .849; df = 1, pے =.357) showed no statistically significant relationship with the influence of child labour practices. Three hypotheses were tested and they were all accepted. Results from the regression analysis showed that only marital status had the most positive influence on child labour pratices. Results from the study has shown that child labour practices have negative effect on the child, thus, there is the need to eradicate all forms of child labour through championing sensitization and enlightenment programmes. Also, people who still choose to engage children in child labour after these sensitization and enlightenment programmes should be severely punished by the law to deter others from engaging in such acts. Finally, the study revealed that, government, youth corps members, community leaders and the general public have a role to play in putting an end to the socio-economic factors influencing child labour practices in Nigeria.