Why do some children live or work in the street?
The answer is complex — as many street children as there are in the world there are as many reasons for them being there. Every single child has their own unique story. The reasons for their connection to the streets will vary from country to country, city to city, and from person to person.
These factors will also vary over time, such as poverty, displacement due to natural disasters and conflicts or family breakdown all lead to increases in the numbers of street children in a given area.
Economic poverty plays a major role, although other factors are of equally high importance. These can include: parental deaths, parental neglect and other social factors such as violence and abuse of children at home or within communities.
Discrimination, lack of access to justice, a lack of legal status (due to a lack of birth registration for example) all contribute to a situation where a child is living or working on the street.