Positioning Agency of Migrant Street Working Children in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

Ethiopia is among the poorest countries of the world in which many children do not have access to a quality education, and many children are engaged in child labour. The study aims to explain the interplay of factors for independent migration and street working experience of children. The article adopted an ethnographic qualitative research method. In-depth interviews, observation, and informal discussions were important tools of data collection. The findings show that independent migration is an important component of working children on streets of Addis Ababa. Children exercise their agency to migrate and engage in a certain kinds of street activities. Most of them migrate from rural areas for non-economic reasons. Street activities are gendered as well as generationally divided. These children have positioned themselves as workers and streets as their workplaces. Despite their agency, they are vulnerable to different structural problems. Hence, blaming child street workers cannot be an effective means of eliminating child labour.