Assessing the Effects of Streetism on the Livelihood of Street Children: A Case Study of Kumasi (in Ghana).

Abstract

This study employed the livelihood approach to examine the effects of streetism on the livelihoods of children who live and make their living on the streets of Kumasi.  The study examines the causative factors that push children on to the streets, their encounters and experiences in their attempts to cope with street life. The study used both quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data was collected from 50 street children in eight areas in Kumasi where the street children are predominant. The study identified that children who live on the street adopt a range of survival strategies, both legal and/or illegal, to confront the challenges of urban street life. The study further identified that the plight of children arises not so much out of negative experiences they have gone through such as child abuse or child neglect but broadly to the absence of and inadequate programmes resulting from the low-priority placed on issues related to child welfare in the country generally.  These challenge human right and underpin injustice in the country. The problems street children face can be corrected overtime through working with the affected children directly and by addressing the symptoms indirectly. Promotion of preventative services and programmes in the communities where the children come from can also help in addressing causal factor.

Key Words: Livelihood, Street children, Survival strategies,