Child poverty and its determinants; the case of Negele Arsi Woreda, Oromia regional state, Ethiopia

Abstract

Child poverty is widespread and anticipated to endure in the future, particularly in developing countries. By 2030, it is predicted that a considerable number of children would be living in poverty. As a result, addressing child poverty is a top priority for researchers and politicians today. The objective of this study is to examine and measure the factors that contribute to child poverty in the Negele Arsi woreda, West Arsi Zone, Oromia Regional State. Based on probability proportionate to size, multistage sampling procedures were employed to pick 401 respondents from four kebeles. The data for this study was gathered using enumerator-administered interview schedules. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics techniques, and the causes of child poverty were analyzed using a probit regression model. The multidimensional poverty assessment method was utilized to assess child poverty based on several indicators. As a result, the total multidimensional child poverty analysis found that around 80 percent of children in the study area were multidimensionally poor. Multidimensional poverty was found to be highly affected by factors such as household socioeconomic status, the age of the household head, and household wealth status. Similarly, nutrition, education, information, shelter, income, and fuel are all intimately tied to children’s requirements.

Keywords:

• child poverty
• household wealth status
• multiple overlapping deprivation analysis
• probit model
• multidimensional

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Bogale Gemede

Bogale Gebeyehu is a doctoral student at the Center for Development Studies at Addis Ababa University. He is an assistant professor at Wolaita Sodo University’s Department of Rural Development and Agricultural Extension. His areas of research interest include food and nutrition security, livelihood diversification strategies, and rural poverty.

Bamlaku Alamirew

Bamlaku Alamirew Alemu has a Ph.D. in Development Economics and over 10 years of experience in teaching and research. He has a long year of experience in Project Management, led multidisciplinary research teams. He has rigorous analytic thinking skills and solid work experience in conducting impact evaluations in fields related to agriculture, food and nutrition security, and emergency and resilience. He has published several articles in international peer-reviewed journals.

Bezabih Emana

Bezabih Emana holds a Ph.D. degree in Agricultural Economics from Hannover University of Germany. He worked as a researcher and lecturer at Haramaya University, Ethiopia. His research areas include food security, nutrition, natural resources, environmental economics, institutional studies (cooperatives, microfinance), policies and systems focusing on Ethiopian the agricultural sector, markets, and value chain studies covering ranges of economic activities, gender, and other socio-economic studies.