Street children in Latin America

Many street children in Latin America, who either live or work in the streets of developing countries, are impoverished. Although most are still in contact with their families, almost all street children spend a significant portion of their days working on the streets for money. As the population of street children in Latin America has grown, public opinion of street children has decreased, putting them at risk for victimization and abuse by strangers and public officials. Many non-government organizations have begun rehabilitation and outreach programs to treat the growing population of street children.

Street children in Latin America generally fall into two categories: home-based and street-based. Children “on the streets” are home-based; they work on the street during the day but have homes and families that they return to at night. Children “of the street” are street-based; they spend all of their time on the streets and do not have homes or contact with their families. In Latin America, street children are commonplace, everyday presences. They are street vendors, street workers, and street entertainers, as well as beggars and thieves. Although street children may occasionally prostitute themselves, child prostitutes and victims of human trafficking are not generally considered street children. There is no clear consensus on how many street children exist in Latin America, mainly because of the difficulties in identifying and defining street children. Some studies claim that as many as 45% of children in Latin America are street children, 75-90% of whom are home-based. Number estimates of street children in Latin America range from 8 million to 40-50 million.

These children are usually indigenous males between the ages of 10 and 14. Because girls typically assist in household chores, they are less likely to work on the streets. Most street children grow up without significant familial support and little to no education.

Almost all street children work. Some are self-employed: they offer services such as car cleaning, car guarding, tour guiding, and shoe shining. Some are employed by market traders to sell goods such as fruit, candy, and newspapers. Others scavenge for items and food to sell, use, or eat. Most female street children and some male home-based street children work on the streets with their parents or siblings, selling food and candy. Street-based street children are more likely to engage in illegal activities such as shoplifting, stealing, and selling drugs. Home-based street children may attend school during the day and work on the streets in the afternoon and evenings, or they may not attend school and spend most of their day either on the streets or helping with household tasks. Street-based children are less likely to attend school than home-based.

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