Does school attendance reduce the risk of youth homelessness in Tanzania?

This study is from quantitative interview data gathered from 1,098 children and youth between 5 and 24 years old on the streets of Moshi and Arusha, Tanzania, over a 48-hour period during the school year on October 26th and 27th, 2006. Respondents were given survey questions about their home, school and street life experiences, in order to measure the impact of outreach work being performed by a Tanzanian NGO. Interviewers used purposive sampling, approaching all young people who appeared to be under the age of 25 years within a number of precincts in each town known to be where 'street children' were known to congregate.Results suggest that regular attendance in school may be a significant protective factor for children in preventing migration to the street life. Statistical analysis revealed that those young people who dropped out of school had nearly 8 times higher chances for ending up on the streets permanently than those who attended school daily.This study supports the new concept of "multi-layered social resilience", providing evidence from research completed by one NGO on how community-based organizations can help enhance resilience in a broader social context, spanning individuals, households and community structures.It is estimated that as of 2009, over 50% of the world's population lives in urban areas, and this global urbanization process is having particularly profound effects on the physical and mental health of children who live there [1]. One of the more visible negative symptoms of urbanization is the growing numbers of children and youth who prematurely leave their families to live and work on the streets without homes [2,3]. Compounding the already difficult life circumstances of these young people is the fact that in many places homeless children are treated as societal outcasts, rather than being recognized as in need of care and protection. Indeed, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child [4] recognises children as rights holde