Demographic characteristics of Street children and their Families in Kermanshah, Labor Situation and related factors of bcoming a street child : A Rapid assessment Study

This study is part of a rapid assessment and response study in six cities of the country, which was conducted in Kermanshah, Iran in 1994-1996 in two qualitative and quantitative phases. In the qualitative section with targeted sampling, 19 individual interviews with key information and 9 group discussions were conducted using semi-structured questionnaires with street children. Then, in a little section after identifying 54 children's street hangouts, through time-space sampling, using a questionnaire, 64 street children were gathered in street children's hangouts. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze data in the qualitative section. The results showed that street children in Kermanshah are mostly boys (92.2%), and in terms of national-ethnic composition, they are all Iranian and belong to the three tribes of Lak, Koli and Kurd. Most street children (81.3%) live in families and relatives, but about half of parents have divorced parents (26.6%) or one of them died (28%). Fathers are often illiterate (20.3%) or less literate (79.7%), and about 78% of them are unemployed. Addiction is one of the most common problems among the families of these children, and about 70% of the current or past consumer fathers of the material. Also, about 60 percent of children are out of school and often pay for small businesses such as handicrafts (86 percent), but about 36 percent of children are busy collecting waste.The most important cause of working for children is family support (70%), family coercion (68%) and neglected (14%).