CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES AND PARENTS’ PERCEPTION TOWARDS CHILD RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION: THE CASE OF KINDO KOYSHA WOREDA, WOLAYTA ZONE, SNNPR

Abstract

Child migration is the movement of people ages under eighteen within or across political border, with or without their parents or a legal guardian, to another country or region. Child migration occurs all over the world and each region has its own particular patterns and context. In rural areas of the Kindo Koysha woreda, children are migrating to different urban centers of Ethiopia. Therefore, studying their parents’ perception towards migration is necessary to understand the concern of child rural-urban migration in the study area. The objective of this thesis is to study the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of parents’ whose children have children migrated to the urban area and parents’ whose children have never migrated to the urban area. The study further focused on identifying causes, consequences and assessing parents’ perception towards child rural-urban migration in the study area. In order to accomplish this study, a total of 160 respondents were selected using purposive sampling techniques. Data collection instruments like survey questionnaire, key informant interview from woreda and kebele officials were involved in the study. In addition, within three groups, more than 21 individuals included Focus Group Discussion have conducted. Both quantitative and qualitative types of data were collected and analyzed. Qualitative data analyzed by narration or discussion. However, quantitative data analyzed by using descriptive statistics using the software Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20. The study findings indicate that the poor economic condition of household, a large number of family size, lack of access to infrastructures, the influence of prior migrant, shortage of agricultural land and parents’ perception are the causes of child rural urban migration in the study area. In addition to this, the miss handling of children, lack of educated youth employment, and aspiration of better life opportunities mentioned as another case in place of origin. The result of the survey data showed that some of households and community elders were encouraging child rural-urban migration; because, they believe that when one’s child/youths are in town, they acquire moral satisfaction whether he/she support or remit money or not. Therefore, the end of the study, to address the issue of child rural-urban migration in the study area, some possible suggestions proposed to the several concerned bodies of the study area.