Degree Name
MA in Intercultural Service, Leadership, and Management
First Advisor
Md. Golam Samdani Fakir
Abstract
Mothers, as parents/guardians responsible for the daily needs of their children, play this important role. In the case of a single/custodial mother, her living conditions, attitudes and motivations directly impact the upbringing and the future of her children. To provide governments, international aid workers, policy makers, program planners, and other interested parties with empirical evidence on the reasons why some groups of parents are more likely to send their children into child labor compared to others, I conducted a close-ended survey on NGO professionals, social welfare officers and international aid workers in Ghana. I also conducted some in-depth open-ended interviews on selected survey participants. This is an exploratory study that used both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The first objective of the study is to understand whether there is a differential in the likelihood of a child going into child labor if being cared for by a single/custodial mother compared to a two (plus) – parent family. Secondly, in a country like Ghana, which does not have strong social protection programs and does not consistently enforce its child support laws, it is logical to explore whether child labor could become a substitute for child support programs for single/custodial mothers. The evidence in this research paper confirmed that the problem of child labor is more prevalent with single/custodial mothers compared to two - parent households. In addition, the lack of child support programs is shown to be a key factor, which often pushes some parents to send their children into child labor. Therefore, there is a need to enforce the laws, increase education on family planning, and implement social programs that would help single/custodial mothers. However, none of these solutions will be effective if they are implemented without a clear understanding of the societal norms of any given country.
Disciplines
Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies | Work, Economy and Organizations
Recommended Citation
Shockley, Tchotcho Elise, "Commodification of Children by Custodial Mothers in Ghana: Child Labor as a Substitute for Child Support?" (2010). Capstone Collection. 1414.
https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/capstones/1414