Children in Ethiopia

Economic Status in Ethiopia
The Effects on Children

Problems
Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries. On average the family income is $130 per year. The percent of the population that is below the poverty level for urban areas is 60% and for rural areas is 65%. Agriculture is relied on by the Ethiopian community. Ethiopia grows 85% of the food that the population needs. Many children work in agriculture to help out with the family's income.

Effects on Children
Parents can't provide much for their children on the small amount of income they recieve. Poverty also leads to poor parental care, unsanitary housing conditions and higher rates of respiratory and other infections.
In the late 1970's, there were many droughts which ruined crops. Since most of the population depends on the crops for food, many people starved. During the 1980's about one million Ethiopians, including many children, died from starvation. Children in Ethiopia are suffering because of these poor conditions.

Government Intervention
Not much is being done by the government to help children. The Ethiopian Child and Family Welfare Association provides food, shelter, and clothing to displaced or orphaned children, and St. Mary's Charity Mission operates boarding school for them.

This website was created in the fall of 1998 by Cecile Nguyen, Marissa Moses, and Victoria Gabroy, students at Tulane University. It is a part of a group project for Professor April Brayfield's Children Around The World class. The purpose of this project is to educate people about the lives of children in Ethiopia.

References

Dixon, John. (1987). Social Welfare in Africa.New York:Croom Helm Ltd.

Oxfam. (1998). Life in Ethiopia [Online].Oxfam

Regions, Harage and Mengistu, Genet. "Fertility and Child Mortality in Rural Ethiopia:"Journal of BioSocial Science 21:1 (1989): 115-121.

UNICEF. (1995). State of Ethiopia's Children [Online]. Available: Unicef