Prevalence and Predictors of Work-Related Injuries Among Children Laboring in the Streets of Latin America

Although children are working in streets throughout the world, child labor is most prevalent in the developing world, including Latin America. Currently, little is known about the prevalence and nature of child street labor injuries, and about factors associated with these injuries. This study investigated the occupational injuries of Latin American child street workers, as well as factors that predict their occurrence. Methods: Participants in this cross-sectional study were 584 children between 5 and 18 years of age who worked in the streets of Bogota (Colombia), Lima (Peru), Quito (Ecuador), and Sao Paulo (Brazil). Interviewers administered an oral questionnaire to children engaged in begging, selling, performing, and car washing/guarding which addressed child demographic characteristics, working conditions, and lifetime injuries. Descriptive analyses as well as multivariate analyses using binomial logistic regressions were conducted. Results: Two thirds of study children had been displaced from their home regions. Forty percent of child street laborers reported significant injuries, including scratches (20%), cuts (16%), burns (9%), car accidents (9%), sprains (5%), and amputations (<1%). Logistic regression analyses (controlling for individual and environmental factors) revealed that longer work hours, older age, performing, being male, non-minority status, and residence in Quito significantly increased the risk of occupational injury. For example, each additional hour of work increased injury risk by 1% and each additional year of age increased the injury rate 6%. Regarding severity of injury, girls have a lower risk of having a moderate to severe injury than boys do. Older children and children in Quito are more likely to suffer a moderate to severe injury. Conclusion: Children working in the streets are at a very high risk of suffering an occupational injury. Findings underscore the need for interventions to reduce such injuries, including enforcement of anti-child labor laws; social/health services to address displacement and child injury; campaigns stressing the importance of child safety and education; mandatory, skill-oriented education; and increased family incomes.