Spousal Labour Migration and Patterns of School Enrolment of Left-Behind Children in Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The incidence of spousal labour migration and its negative consequences on various aspects of life among left-behind households have been on the increase in Nigeria in recent times. This study examines the spatial variation of spousal migration and its consequences on school enrolment pattern of left -behind children. The New Economics of Labour Migration was used as the framework, while a cross-sectional survey design was adopted. Oyo State was purposively selected because it is among the states suggested to be experiencing relatively high migration. Four settlements were randomly selected from two Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Oyo Central Senatorial District. Non-probability sampling technique was used to select 1,613 respondents (Migrants – 447, Non-migrants – 1,166) after saturation was ensured based on the Oyo State household population from the senatorial district. Data were collected using structured questionnaire with experts-certified content validity and ethical standard. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed, and analysis were carried out at 0.05 significance level. First results showed that spousal migration in the study areas contributed to the menace of out-of-school children in households. The empirical findings also revealed significant variation in the number of children enrolled in the settlements (F= 21.354, p=0.001). Furthermore, the analysis showed that the factors contributing to the volume and direction of flow among migrants varies significantly (F=66.296; p=0.001). The study recommended the need to design a social welfare scheme for the left-behind children to minimise the effects of spousal migration on them especially on children’s education.