Ethiopia's Children

Ethiopia has often been defamed due to its terrible starvation, malnutrition, and educational problems. In 2002, the failure of both belg and meher rains (short and long rains) put nearly 12.6 million people’s lives at risk. Nearly 4.2 million people in this country suffer from a lack of water, and many of those affected are children.

Child Labour in General
The population of Ethiopia is around 62 million, and around 27 million of those are children under the age of 15 years old. Rapid rural to urban migration is one of the major reasons for the increase in child labourers in Ethiopia, especially in domestic work.

The high fertility rates and very high unemployment rates (1 in 3 people are unemployed) mean that the population is growing, but not stabilizing. In fact, working opportunities are becoming less and less for adults, due to the amount of child workers in the country.

It is estimated that 1 in 50 to 1 in 40 households employ child domestic workers. Other children are made to work in other trades, such as bead making and match making.

The average salary for child workers is barely Birr18 (US $1 = 8.8 Birr), which is almost one sixth of the salary of the lowest paid adult domestic workers in the country. 1

Child Labour in Addis Ababa
Child labour is a very important issue in Ethiopia, especially in the central region of Addis Ababa. Many children here are involved in various forms of labour, including domestic work, factory work, and agricultural work. Some children are made to go to work as young as 6 years old.

Reports show that only around 59% of domestic working children are paid any sort of wage (and a very low wage at that). That means 41% of children are forced to work for nothing at all. Of those who are paid a wage, many of them never see the money, as it is paid directly to their parents.

Many children are forced to start work at 6 A.M. and don’t get to bed until past midnight. They often have to work up to 11 hours a day, seven days a week – that’s up to 80 hours a week.

35% of children who work are not enrolled in a literacy program. This is due to many factors, including no schools nearby, expensive schooling fees, lack of time, and the non-willingness of employers to let them attend. 1a

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