ERIC Number: EJ827273
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009
Pages: 25
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0743-5584
EISSN: N/A
The Use of Adolescents as Domestic Servants in Ibadan, Nigeria
Okafor, Emeka Emmanuel
Journal of Adolescent Research, v24 n2 p169-193 2009
The use of adolescents as domestic servants has become prevalent in most urban centers in Nigeria. This study focused on adolescents who work as domestic househelps in urban centers with special reference to Ibadan, Nigeria. The main objective of the study is to examine their mode of recruitment, the nature of their work as well the impact of such work on them. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 adolescent domestic servants and 5 employers selected through a combination of simple and purposive sampling techniques. The result of the findings showed that most of the adolescents were girls who were recruited through various sources and got into the job because their families were largely poor. Although most of them considered their work as laborious and demanding, yet some agreed that they were receiving some material benefits from the work in the absence of any real alternative to the precarious condition of their impoverished families. All their employers were working women who considered the engagement of these adolescents for work as a form of reciprocity, and as such thought that they had not violated any secular law. The study identified poverty and high demand for domestic servants by working women as the push and pull factors exacerbating the use of adolescents for domestic service in most urban centers in Nigeria. (Contains 1 table and 2 notes.)
Descriptors: Social History, Employment, Adolescents, Foreign Countries, Sampling, Housework, Incidence, Urban Areas, Recruitment, Interviews, Females, Poverty, Employed Women
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Nigeria
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A