Hidden Heads of the Households : Child Labor in Urban Northeast Brazil

In the cities of Northeast Brazil where 50 per cent of the population lives in poverty, children play a key role in the local economy—in their households, in formal jobs, and in the thriving informal sector (washing cars, shining shoes, scavenging for recyclables, etc.). Why children migrate to the city, how they negotiate their existence, and why they stay are just some of the questions addressed in this fascinating study.

Mary Kenny spent close to 15 years in the urban areas o…