THE CONTRIBUTING ROLES OF CHARITY ORGANIZATIONS AND THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE LIVING STANDARD OF THE LESS PRIVILEGED CHILDREN

Abstract

This study was motivated by the excessive population of the less privileged children on the streets of Lagos. The problem is defined by the consequences of lack of family planning, improper upbringing of children, the decay of societal values and the failure of women to maintain their traditionally ascribed roles as sisters, wives, mothers and home makers in quest for material wealth. Five hypotheses were formulated for the study. The survey research design was adopted for the study, with a sample size of two hundred and fifty five. The questionnaire and interviews were used for data collection. The analysis of the data was based on simple percentages. Some of the findings were that, (i) economic constraints, socio-cultural decay, and psychological factors influence parents attitudes and decisions towards child abandonment (ii), that family size influences the degree of child abandonment and that it is more prevalent in larger families than smaller ones as a result of financial pressure, (iii) that Nigerian Legal System does not adequately safe guard the rights of children, (iv) that charity organization have to a large extent render assistance to the less privileged. Based on these findings, recommendations were made which include that, (i) Government should formulate policies that will help to reduce the level of poverty in Nigeria, (ii) the government should assist parents to take care of their children through the provision of welfare services, (iii) families should try to reduce the number of children they bear, through maximum use of family planning facilities, (iv) the public should from time to time, be given proper enlightenment on sex related issues, as well as the benefits of efficient parental upbringing.