A Critical Assessment of the Environmental and Spatial Consequences of Child Begging in Abeokuta, Nigeria

ABSTRACT Child begging in Abeokuta, Nigeria, has become a prominent and troubling feature of urban life, reflecting entrenched socio‐economic inequalities, ineffective welfare systems, and weak urban governance. This study assesses the environmental and spatial impacts of child begging, focusing on socio‐economic backgrounds, key drivers, and distribution patterns. Using mixed methods (headcounts, 164 questionnaires, and 6 interviews), this research tests whether socio‐economic attributes vary across residential zones. Results show significant differences in religion ( χ 2 = 9.674, p = 0.046) and age ( F = 2.909, p = 0.023), indicating variation across zones. Primary drivers include economic hardship, religious norms, and armed conflict. The Relative Importance Index identifies critical socio‐environmental impacts: public abuse (RII = 3.71), road accidents (RII = 3.70), and criminal coercion (RII = 3.62). Spatial analysis pinpoints road junctions, markets, and religious centers as hotspots for child begging. The study concludes that child begging is a geographically embedded symptom of a deeper, historically rooted socio‐structural failure and recommends integrated interventions, context‐specific urban planning, faith‐based charitable reforms, targeted poverty alleviation, compulsory education enforcement, and multi‐level policy coordination, to address the root causes and mitigate the socio‐environmental impacts of child begging in Abeokuta and similar urban settings.