Lika, Tebarek(PhD)Meshesha, Sintayehu2018-07-032023-11-192018-07-032023-11-192016-06http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/12345678/5952Child rural-urban migration is tied with economic and non-economic factors. Thus, this study aimed to examine the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of migrants and migrant sending families; to identify the push and pull factors of migration and to assess the perceptions of migrant sending families towards child migration. A total of 124 participants in the study were selected by applying simple random sampling technique and purposively. In order to attain the proposed objectives instruments like questionnaire, key informants interview and FGDs were employed. To analyze the collected data both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. More specifically, quantitative data analyzed by using descriptive statistics with the help of the software Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20 and Microsoft office Excel 2007 whereas the qualitative data analyzed by narration(discussion). The study findings indicate that the demographic and socio economic characteristics like low level of educational attainments, meager income, large number of family sizes, shortage of agricultural land and remarriage in the study area found to be important for child rural-urban migration. Also the study reveals that about 71.4 percent of migrants were found between the age ranges of 15 and 18 years and the rate of migration was high in both sexes and the proportion of male migrant’s slightly higher than females and females migrated in their earlier ages than males. Moreover, the vast majority of migrants were single and literate. With regard to factors of migration factors like extreme poverty, lack of youth employment opportunities, inaccessibility of infrastructures like road and general secondary school, shortage of land, large family size and missed information about jobs, its payments and life styles at destination found to be the major push factors for migration. On the other hand, presence of better job opportunities in informal sectors, an ambition of migrants to live a better life and the influence of preceding migrants for instance migrants wearing styles, hair styles, walking and talking styles, mobile phones, bags etc. to be identified as the major pull factors for migration. The study also revealed that the majority of participants in the study have positive perceptions towards child migration because by the belief that migrants would get different job opportunities at destinations and also child migration into urban centers viewing as one of the livelihood strategies for migrants and alternative source of income for sending households in origin. Therefore, government, NGOs or other stakeholders should improve the lives of the rural poor households; provide infrastructures like road and general secondary school; aware local communities about the importance of having small family size, gender equality and about the other negative impacts of migration were recommended in this study to minimize the current trends of child rural-urban migration. Keywords: Child rural-urban migration, causes of migration, migrant sending familyenChild Rural-Urban MigrationCauses of MigrationMigrant Sending FamilyThesis