The Involvement of Children in Housing Construction in Lagos State, Nigeria: Challenges and Implications

Abstract

The study examines the involvement of children in housing construction in Lagos state Nigeria.  A Case study research design was adopted, while both primary and secondary data were sourced. Using a multi stage sampling procedure, six out of fifteen settlements that makes up the Ibeju–Lekki LGA which is made up of fifteen settlements were purposively selected. This was consequent upon the high concentration of construction works that was going on in the area. A total of 278 housing construction sites were identified and 110 out of 220 construction sites were randomly selected, representing 50% of the sample frame. Subsequently, a structure questionnaire was administered to two respondents (children) randomly sampled in each of these construction sites, making a total of 220 constituting the sample size. Both descriptive and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) statistics were used in analyzing the data collected, while qualitative data were content analysed.  The factors responsible for the involvement of children include; financial crisis (61.0%), skill acquisition (17.0%). The money realized form was used for; family’s feeding (49.0%), sibling’s school fees (3.6%). The role of the respondents includes fetching of water 32.0%, carrying concrete 26%, while the challenges were malaria (54.7%), construction accidents (5.9%). Despite the positive influence of the children in the construction activities, its challenges have been quite noteworthy. Therefore, efforts should be made to avoid their early exposure to construction work.