Sociodemographic characteristics of abandoned street boys and girls, and formerly abandoned street children in the Alalay and Marcelina orphanages
| Characteristic | Street boys (n = 85) | Street girls (n = 39) | Comparison of street boys and street girls* | Street children (n = 124) | Orphanage (n = 35) | Comparison of street and orphanage children* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *The two p values p1/p2 are from tests without controlling for age (p1) and with controlling for age (p2). | ||||||
| Age (y) | n = 85 | n = 39 | p<0.001/N/A | n = 124 | n = 35 | p<0.001/N/A |
| ⩽10 | 14 (16%) | 1 (3%) | 15 (12%) | 15 (43%) | ||
| 11–15 | 48 (56%) | 9 (23%) | 57 (46%) | 19 (54%) | ||
| 16–20 | 23 (27%) | 29 (74%) | 52 (42%) | 1 (3%) | ||
| Average (SD) | 13.5 (3.2) | 16.3 (2.6) | 14.4 (2.9) | 11.4 (2.5) | ||
| Years spent on the street | n = 79 | n = 36 | p = 0.78/0.17 | n = 115 | n = 27 | p<0.001/0.022 |
| 0–1 | 14 (18%) | 9 (25%) | 23 (20%) | 17 (63%) | ||
| 2–5 | 49 (62%) | 16 (44%) | 65 (56%) | 7 (26%) | ||
| 6–15 | 16 (20%) | 11 (31%) | 27 (24%) | 3 (11%) | ||
| Average (SD) | 4.1 (3.2) | 4.0 (3.2) | 4.1 (3.2) | 1.9 (2.4) | ||
| Years in orphanage | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | n = 23 | N/A |
| 0–1 | 8 (35%) | |||||
| 2–5 | 10 (44%) | |||||
| 6–15 | 5 (22%) | |||||
| Average (SD) | 0.9 (1.3) | |||||
| Mother’s occupation | n = 37 | n = 21 | p = 0.17/0.40 | n = 58 | n = 23 | p = 0.026/0.013 |
| No employment | 0 (0%) | 2 (10%) | 2 (3%) | 2 (9%) | ||
| Low salary | 27 (73%) | 15 (71%) | 42 (72%) | 20 (87%) | ||
| Medium salary | 1 (3%) | 1 (5%) | 2 (3%) | 1 (4%) | ||
| Dead | 9 (24%) | 3 (14%) | 12 (21%) | 0 (0%) | ||
| Father’s occupation | n = 29 | n = 21 | p = 0.068/0.27 | n = 50 | n = 19 | p = 0.34/0.53 |
| No employment | 2 (7%) | 2 (10%) | 4 (8%) | 1 (5%) | ||
| Low salary | 17 (59%) | 10 (48%) | 27 (54%) | 14 (74%) | ||
| Medium salary | 0 (0%) | 4 (19%) | 4 (8%) | 2 (10%) | ||
| High Salary | 1 (3%) | 1 (5%) | 2 (4%) | 0 (0%) | ||
| Dead | 9 (31%) | 4 (19%) | 13 (26%) | 2 (10%) | ||
| Years since in school | n = 47 | n = 15 | p = 0.97/0.14 | n = 62 | n = 26 | p<0.001/0.001 |
| In school | 7 (15%) | 3 (20%) | 10 (16%) | 21 (81%) | ||
| 1 month–1 year | 9 (19%) | 2 (13%) | 11 (18%) | 3 (12%) | ||
| 2–5 years | 18 (38%) | 7 (47%) | 25 (40%) | 0 (0%) | ||
| 6–15 years | 13 (28%) | 3 (20%) | 16 (26%) | 2 (8%) | ||
| Avg. years since in school (SD) | 3.8 (3.2) | 3.1 (3.2) | 3.6 (3.2) | 0.6 (1.9) | ||
| Have children? | n = 47 | n = 23 | p<0.001/0.070 | n = 70 | n = 1 | N/A |
| Yes | 4 (9%) | 10 (44%) | 14 (20%) | 0 (0%) | ||
| Reason for being on street | n = 78 | n = 37 | p = 0.97/0.82 | n = 115 | n = 34 | p = 0.10/0.04 |
| Physical abuse | 31 (40%) | 15 (40%) | 46 (40%) | 19 (56%) | ||
| Parental death | 16 (20%) | 5 (14%) | 21 (18%) | 7 (21%) | ||
| Abandonment | 13 (17%) | 6 (6%) | 19 (16%) | 2 (6%) | ||
| Mental abuse | 10 (13%) | 5 (14%) | 15 (13%) | 0 (0%) | ||
| Lack of financial resources | 5 (6%) | 3 (8%) | 8 (7%) | 3 (9%) | ||
| Other | 3 (4%) | 3 (8%) | 6 (5%) | 3 (9%) | ||
| Method of income | n = 75 | n = 31 | p<0.001/<0.001 | n = 106 | n = 26 | p = 0.0015/<0.001 |
| Begging | 23 (31%) | 11 (36%) | 34 (32%) | 3 (12%) | ||
| Robbery | 24 (32%) | 4 (13%) | 28 (26%) | 1 (4%) | ||
| Singing on the bus | 14 (19%) | 1 (3%) | 15 (14%) | 9 (35%) | ||
| Shining shoes | 9 (12%) | 2 (6%) | 11 (10%) | 5 (19%) | ||
| Selling items | 3 (4%) | 8 (26%) | 11 (10%) | 1 (4%) | ||
| None | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (4%) | ||
| Other | 2 (3%) | 5 (16%) | 7 (6%) | 6 (23%) | ||