Determinants of households’ decision to participate in temporary inter-rural child labor migration: the case of Sekella district, Amhara region, Ethiopia

Child labor migration has become a contemporary issue at both the international and national levels. Like other less-developed nations, Ethiopia has been experiencing inter-rural child migration for labor. The general objective of this study was to identify the determinants of households’ involvement in temporary inter-rural child labor migration in Sekella district, Northwestern Ethiopia. A mixed-methods research design was employed for the data collection and analysis. For survey questionnaire, 204 households who participated in child labor migration, and 142 households who did not send child labor migrants were surveyed through simple random sampling. A questionnaire was employed as the principal quantitative data collection method. The results of the study indicate that inadequacy of farmland and size of livestock ownership play a vital role in determining households’ choice to engage in temporary inter-rural child labor migration. In addition, the household migration network was also a significant reason behind households’ participation in inter-rural child labor migration Furthermore, accessing credit, the size of young dependent household members, and household heads’ educational status are found to decrease the chance of households’ engagement in child labor migration. It is suggested that realizing the rural land distribution policy may balance the farm land possession of rural households. In addition, offering technical training to rural residents in small-scale industries and non-farm job opportunities, which could create alternative income for rural people, should be emphasized. Finally, the paper argues that child labor migration studies need to analyse both child migrant sending and non-sending households in specific contexts to better formulate rural development policy.