Street children

Street children, street kids are homeless children who live on the street – in particular, those that are not taken care of by parents or other adults. Street children live in abandoned buildings, containers, automobiles, parks, or on the street itself.

A great deal has been written defining street children. The problem is that there are no precise categories but rather a continuum ranging from children who spend some time in the streets but basically live at home to those who live entirely in the streets and have no adult supervision or care.

1. Children on the street are those engaged in some kind of economic activity ranging from begging to vending. Most go home at the end of the day and contribute their earnings to their family. They may be attending school and retain a sense of belonging to a family. Because of the economic fragility of the family, these children may eventually opt for a permanent life on the streets.

2. Children of the street actually live on the street (or outside of a normal family environment). Family ties may exist but are tenuous and are maintained only casually or occasionally.

Estimates vary but one often-cited figure is that the number of children living independently in the streets totals between 100 million and 150 million worldwide, and it is forecasted that - by 2020 – the number will increase to 800 million.

Street children exist in many major cities, especially in developing countries, and may be the subject of abuse, neglect, exploitation, or even in extreme cases murder by "clean up squads" hired by local businesses.

In Latin America, a common cause is abandonment by poor families unable to feed all their children. In Africa, an increasingly common cause is AIDS.