Title of the Study: Turkey, Working Street Children in Three Metropolitan Cities: A Rapid Assessment

Type of the Study: Research –Evaluation Report (The study has been conducted within the scope of the ILO-IPEC Programme

Authors of the Study: Dr. Bahattin Akşit

Dr. Nuray Karancı

Dr. Ayşe Gündüz Hoşgör

Presentation,

Year/Place of Publication: November 2001, Geneva

Language of the Study: English

Number of Pages: 99

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine the jobs made by street children in Adana, Diyarbakır and İstanbul, revealing the living and working conditions and family socio-demographic characteristics of these children, examination of the look of children and families on the issues of working on the street and education, and studying the perspectives and attitudes of specialists from various institutes and customers.

Content: The study comprises 6 parts. The first part gives the purpose, scope and methodology of the study. Part 2 gives the demographical, education and socio-economic profiles of 3 cities. Part 3 discusses the legal and organizational aspects of the topic. Part 4 draws a profile of children working in the streets. Types of works done by children, their working hours, monies earned, conditions, living conditions, educational status, perspectives of police, people and customers, future expectations and dreams of children are discussed. And part 5 describes the families of children working in the streets, and their profiles are given with regard to their socio-economic, socio-demographic, and migration histories and families’ perspectives on working on the streets are probed into. Part 6 is the conclusion section.

Method: ILO-UNICEF’s ‘Rapid Assessment Methodology’ method has been implemented. 4 types of data gathering techniques were used to illustrate the family situations, working conditions, schooling and general attitudes of working children : (1) Semi-planned interviews made in these 3 cities with 188 working children and 65 parents. (2) In-depth focus group interviews with relevant organizations and customers, (3) observations about the working areas and living quarters of children. (4) review of literature about children working in the streets

Excerpt: Attitudes of sellers against these children have similarities with that of customers. Some of them know them very well because they encounter every day and help them in certain things. However, because the owners of some expensive product shops see them as threat for themselves and for their customers, they don’t want them to be nearby. (p.56)

Some keywords: child workers, migration, children working on the streets, socio-demographic level, socio-economic level

Subaşı, M., Kubilay, G.(2003); ‘‘Properties of Families and Dwellings of Children Living/Working in the Streets’’, Hemşirelikte Araştırma Geliştirme Magazine, 5:2, Ankara, December.

Number of Works Cited: 35

Scope:

The study has been made to determine the properties of families and dwellings of children living/working in the streets. This is a descriptive study. Data is gathered using the questionnaire created by the researcher by face to face talks with the families included in the sample group between July-November 2000. The study universe comprises 280 children working in the streets registered with Ulus Children and Youth Center operating under the Social Services and Child Protection Agency and the families of 20 children living in the streets registered Ankara Governorship Children Education and Treatment Center aged between 7 and 14. The sample group is the 30 families of 49 children accessed between July–November. Obtained data is evaluated with regards numbers and percentiles.

An Excerpt from the Article:

Situations like fast population increase in major cities, unplanned urbanization, migration, poverty, increasing inflation, unemployment, accommodation in poor conditions, family violence, disruption of family integrity and loss of social support of family have negative effects on the family and all family individuals. In addition to these factors, situations such as alcohol and substance addiction in the family, father leaving the house, parents’ marriage to other persons, absence of money-bringing person, seeking of adventure, physical exploitation, sexual harassment and rape, low educational level, insufficient educational facilities, and traditional attitudes of the society are affecting mostly the children among all family members. These factors cause the children to get away from the family environment and lead to the street, a setting increasing the potential to commit crimes.

Some Keywords:

family, migration, residence properties, substance addiction, children working on the streets, children living on the streets, poverty

Güngör, M.(2003); ‘‘Poverty and Children Working on Streets’’, Poverty, Deniz Feneri Publications, Volume:3, Istanbul.

Number of Works Cited: 5

Scope:

Efforts are made to determine the effects created by poverty on children working in the streets in the city of Mersin. Poverty has been taken as a de facto situation rather than being addressed as an economic indicator and the aim has been to measure its effect on the child. In the light of concepts like migration, social state, children working on streets, street child, and socialization, a survey and observation has been made on 70 children working on the streets in Mersin.

An Excerpt from the Article:

It is the youngest individuals of the society and the family who are affected most from poverty, and whose living, developing and growing rights are risked. In today’s world, four out of 10 of children born in developing nations come to the world in extreme poverty. This poverty determines the child’s existence in all aspects. (p.291)

Some Keywords:

diet, migration, sanitation, children working on the streets, children living on the streets, social state, socialisation

Zeytinoğlu, S.(1989) “The State Of Children In Turkey”, Child Policy of 1990’s Congress, DPT-UNICEF publications, Ankara, p. 241-252.

Number of Works Cited: 10

Scope:

In the presentation, a panoromic vision of child labour in today’s world is pictured and the problem of child exploitation is discussed by defining the related concepts. The apprentice training, and the protection of children with legal regulations and their effectivity and defects are explained. Also suggestions to the problems of working children are presented.

An Exscerpt from the Article:

In today’s world millions of children are exploited in situations far worse than taking part in simple family labour division. Within the industrialisation process masses of people migrated from rural areas to cities and the ineffective social services to the poor and insufficeint employment opportunities for survival resulted in the participation of children in workforce outside of the family. (p.242)

Some Key Words:

family, working children, apprentice training, apprenticeship, child abuse, migration

Sencer, Y.; Erbilgin, K.( 1978 ); “The Problems Of Our Apprentices: The Results Of A Field Survey”, First National Occupational Health Congress, 19-21 October 1978, İstanbul, p. 550-559.

Number of Works Cited: 4

Scope:

The social features, occupational and life conditions of apprentices working in different parts of İstanbul are examined. For this purpose interviews are done with 319 apprentices from different sectoral backgrounds. Also, the legislation’s (no. 2089 Apprentice, Experinced Apprentice and Masterstroke) reflection on practice and level of gaining validity is tested. The report is an excerpt of the data acquired and it is the first study about apprentices.

An Excerpt from the Article:

The fact that more than %80 of apprentices born out of İstanbul are the children of families migrated to İstanbul after 1965 is taking attention. It is mentioned that the reason for migration of apprentices are %58 unemployment-bad straits-insuficient amount of land. (p.553)

Some Key Words:

working conditions, apprentice training, apprenticeship, apprentice-experienced apprentice-masterworkman system, migration