Befikadu Ejeta

Highly vulnerable children: how their caregivers’ savings group participation facilitated their well-being

By Befikadu Ejeta

Millions of Ethiopian children live in poverty. About two out of three attend primary school, while fewer than one in five attend secondary, and two in five are married by the age of 18. To ameliorate these conditions, voluntary savings and loan groups (SG) are implemented to facilitate the wellbeing and livelihoods of caregivers and the vulnerable children in their care. Yet evidence of caregiver SG participation on child wellbeing does not adequately support the assumption that increased income will support children’s needs. This study explores the experiences of adolescents whose caregivers participated in SGs. In-depth interviews with adolescents provide a unique perspective on distal effects of SGs, with rich narratives about their education, health, and psychosocial wellbeing. We graphically illustrate pathways with links between wellbeing domains as described by participants. Adolescents associate their caregivers’ SG participation with meeting their material and non-material needs primarily through increased economic welfare, though sometimes associated with training about parenting given during SG meetings. © 2020, © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.