EFFECTS OF CHILD POVERTY ON CHILD LABOUR AND DEPRIVATION AMONG RURAL FARMING HOUSEHOLDS IN ENUGU STATE, NIGERIA

Both government and non-governmental organisations have been making efforts in the fight against the menace of child labour, child poverty and deprivation. Despite these efforts, 70% of world’s child labour still work in agricultural sector. This study examined the nexus and impact of child poverty, deprivation and other socio-economic variables on child labour among rural farming households in Enugu State of Nigeria. Data for the study were collected using survey research design with the aid of structured questionnaire and interview. Descriptive statistics and multinomial logit regression was applied for data analysis. The result of the study shows that majority (92%) of the farming households were engaged in crop farming, majority (69%) of the children aged between 4 and 17 combined both schooling and agricultural labour. For children who were completely out of school, 5% we found to be idle while 16% engaged in agricultural labour. A significant number of children were engaged in agricultural labour, and 62.3% of them had access to primary school only. About 49.4% of children cannot obtain primary health services. Age, household size and gender of children had positive and significant (p < 0.10) relationship with child labour. We recommended a redesign of poverty alleviation programmes for rural active farmers and public schools make attractive, accessible and affordable in the rural areas.