ABSTRACT

Most of the existing surveys and poverty studies in Nigeria are, understandably, quantitative in approach, generating data and statistics that are currently guiding development planning. Issues that address perceptions, social interactions and/or sensory experiences are less amenable for exploration using quantitative data. They can be fruitfully analyzed with qualitative information. Yet, understanding how poverty impacts the lives of children, as well as how they perceive and experience it, is necessary for responsive, child-friendly, equity-focused development programming.

This study is, therefore, an attempt to understand how children perceive, and feel about, poverty, not how many of them are poor (incidence of poverty) or how poor they are (depth of poverty). Such information about perception is normally not available in household surveys which capture most of the indicators that relate to survival and development of children. The study does not attempt to determine if most children feel they are poor either. The objective is to understand how children experience poverty and to listen to their voices as they express themselves about this experience. Consequently, the qualitative study was geared toward promoting child participation as well as to listen and understand children’s perception of poverty.

Limited access to basic social services – including basic nutrition, quality education, adequate clothing, and decent shelter – formed a greater part of what poverty meant to children. Children perceived child poverty as a gendered phenomenon, impacting boys and girls differently. They observed that, in a bid to augment household income, poor children may be forced to drop out of school, and/or engage in various economic and social activities that expose them to violence, exploitation and abuse.

摘要

可以理解，尼日利亚现有的大多数调查和贫困研究都是定量的，生成的数据和统计数据目前正在指导发展规划。处理感知、社会互动和/或感官体验的问题不太适合使用定量数据进行探索。可以使用定性信息对它们进行富有成效的分析。然而，了解贫困如何影响儿童的生活，以及他们如何看待和体验贫困，对于响应迅速、对儿童友好、以公平为重点的发展规划来说是必要的。

因此，这项研究试图了解儿童如何看待和感受贫困，而不是了解他们中有多少贫困（贫困发生率）或他们有多贫困（贫困深度）。住户调查通常无法获得有关感知的此类信息，因为住户调查包含了与儿童生存和发展相关的大部分指标。这项研究也没有试图确定大多数孩子是否也觉得自己很穷。目的是了解儿童如何经历贫困，并在他们表达自己的这种经历时倾听他们的声音。因此，定性研究旨在促进儿童参与以及倾听和理解儿童对贫困的看法。

获得基本社会服务的机会有限——包括基本营养、优质教育、充足的衣服和体面的住所——构成了贫困对儿童意味着的更大一部分。儿童将儿童贫困视为一种性别现象，对男孩和女孩的影响不同。他们观察到，为了增加家庭收入，贫困儿童可能被迫辍学，和/或从事各种使他们遭受暴力、剥削和虐待的经济和社会活动。