Currently, in the city of São Paulo there are 3.759 children and adolescents aged 12 to 17 using streets to sleep, work irregularly or are served by Institutional Reception Services for Children and Adolescents (Saica) and in Special Reception Centers for Families. The data is part of this year's May Census from the Municipal Secretariat for Social Assistance and Development, released last Saturday (30). The last study on this group in São Paulo had been carried out last time 15 years ago, in 2007.
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It is considered in street situation not just the child who sleeps, but also the one who spends “an hour or two selling sweets on the street and goes back to some house”, explained Carloz Bezzerra, municipal secretary of Social Assistance. (Folha de S.Paulo)🚥
Group characteristics
According to the survey, in relation to race, 43% of children and adolescents on the streets declare themselves mixed race, 28,6% black, 0,9% indigenous. The majority of the group is male (59,2%) and 2% did not know or wanted to inform.
The survey also concluded that, of the almost 4 thousand children and adolescents who are homeless in São Paulo:
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- 73,1% (2.749) use the streets as a way of survival – they work irregularly or beg for alms
- 14,8% (465) are accompanied by an adult on the streets
- 16.2% are served by institutional reception services
- 10,7% (410) spend the night on the streets
- 7,5% (235) are engaged in illicit activities
- 62% of children and adolescents who are not sheltered have irregular work activities
The same child can live under more than one vulnerable condition. In 2007, when the last edition of this survey was published, 1.842 children and adolescents lived on the streets, a number that represents 49% of today's total.
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(Top photo: Pixabay)
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