Informal Economic Sector: An Investigation of the Effects of Street Hawking on the Girl-Child Education in Nigeria

Abstract

Street hawking is one of the most booming informal sectors of the Nigerian economy that provides jobs for the teeming unemployed youths. The lucrative business of selling goods on the streets is done by poor hawkers who cannot afford to rent a shop or the capital to start a business. This study investigates the effects of street hawking on children in Nigeria in the context of deprivation of access to and acquisition of quality education. The methodology used in the study is the survey method design, where a structured set of 120 questionnaires were distributed to collect primary data. The theoretical framework used is political economy of the informal sector model. The findings of the study reveal that the informal sector, despite not being regulated, provides jobs to millions of young people in Nigeria. The study identifies some of the causes of street hawking are poverty, illiteracy, and broken families. It is argued in the paper that the effects of street hawking are alarming and include educational deprivation, physical and public health problems, and child abuse. As a result, the study recommends that governments provide free education to the children, build markets, disburse loans for business start-ups, provide employment opportunities, and make laws to prohibit street hawking.