Winner, 2020 Outstanding Scholarly Contribution Award, given by the
Children and Youth Section of the American Sociological Association
Winner, 2020 Early-Career Book Award from the American Association of
Hispanics in Higher Education
How Latinx kids and their undocumented parents struggle in the
informal street food economy
Street food markets have become wildly popular in Los Angeles--and
behind the scenes, Latinx children have been instrumental in making
these small informal businesses grow. In Kids at Work, Emir Estrada
shines a light on the surprising labor of these young workers, providing
the first ethnography on the participation of Latinx children in street
vending.
Drawing on dozens of interviews with children and their undocumented
parents, as well as three years spent on the streets shadowing families
at work, Estrada brings attention to the unique set of hardships Latinx
youth experience in this occupation. She also highlights how these
hardships can serve to cement family bonds, develop empathy towards
parents, encourage hard work, and support children--and their
parents--in their efforts to make a living together in the United
States. Kids at Work provides a compassionate, up-close portrait of
Latinx children, detailing the complexities and nuances of family
relations when children help generate income for the household as they
peddle the streets of LA alongside their immigrant parents.
