Demographic and behavioural drivers of intra-urban mobility of migrant street children and youth in Kampala, Uganda

Abstract

While research on the nexus of migration and wellbeing of individuals has gained recognition in recent years, far less attention has been devoted to intra-urban mobility especially among the urban poor young populations. We assess the drivers of intra-urban mobility using a random sample of 412 migrant street children and youth in Kampala city, Uganda. This paper draws from a larger cross-sectional survey of circular migration and sexual and reproductive health choices among street children in Kampala, Uganda. We define ‘migrants’ as street children and youth with a rural-urban migration experience and ‘intra-urban mobility’ as the number of places stayed in or moved since migrating to the city, measured on a continuous scale. More than half (54.37%) of the migrant street children and youth had lived in two or more places since migrating to the city. Multivariate negative binomial regression analysis reveals migrant street children and youth’s intra-urban mobility to be associated with gender (aIRR = 0.71, 95%CI 0.53–0.96), sex work (aIRR = 1.38, 95%CI 1.01–1.88), a daily income of one USD or more (aIRR = 1.57, 95%CI 1.16–2.13) and duration of stay in the city (aIRR = 1.54, 95%CI 1.17–2.01). Other drivers of intra-urban mobility included availability of causal work, personal safety and affordability of rental costs. Our findings suggest the need for urban housing and health policies to take into account street children and youth’s intra-urban mobility and its drivers. Future research on all drivers of street children and youth’s intra-urban mobility and its linkage with their health outcomes is recommended.

Rural-Urban Migration, Childbearing Decision-Making, Fertility and Contraceptive Perspectives of Street Adolescents and Youth in Kampala, Uganda

“…This study used data from a cross-sectional survey of 513 street adolescents and youth living in Kampala, Uganda that was conducted between April and July 2019. Detailed methods have been described in our previous work ( 29 ), but will be briefly reviewed in this section. The study was conducted in three of five divisions of the Kampala capital city, including Makindye, Rubaga and Central divisions.…”

Rural-Urban Migration, Childbearing Decision-Making, Fertility and Contraceptive Perspectives of Street Adolescents and Youth in Kampala, Uganda

“…To select the sampling units (parishes) for the interviews, we applied proportionate allocation sampling based on the street-youth population size estimates and number of geographic locations/venues in which street adolescents and youth congregate during daytime. Within each congregation venue, venue-based time-space (VBTS) sampling technique was applied to select eligible participants (25). All interviews were conducted in private spaces on the streets by a team of 14 trained research assistants.…”

A multisource analysis of child streetism in Nigerian urban centres

“…Ogunkan and Solabi (2019) describe street children as "children who are morally and psychologically abandoned, spending most of his/her time in the streets which have become his/her only home." Bwambale et al (2021) define street children as people who live on the streets, whereas Ogan (2021) defines them as children under the age of 18 who live and work on the streets, being impoverished, unnoticed by society, and abandoned by their government.…”