'Kids at Work' wins sociological research award

An eye-opening book about children working in their parents’ street vending businesses has earned honors from the American Sociological Association. 

Assistant Professor Emir Estrada won the 2020 Outstanding Scholarly Contribution Award from the American Sociological Association’s Children and Youth section for her book, “Kids at Work: Latinx Families Selling Food on the Streets of Los Angeles.” 

Estrada spent three years gathering firsthand research on street vending in Los Angeles. Since street vending was illegal at the time, it took time for her to earn vendors’ trust enough to understand the family dynamics and roles in the business. 

“We were impressed in particular with the depth of the ethnography, freshness of perspective, and findings about children's agency, gender, and labor,” said Rachel Kimbro, chair of the award committee. “And the writing was superlative.”

Estrada is grateful for the recognition of her efforts and the importance of the research.

“It has been a special journey and a privilege to write about Latinx children who work with their parents as street vendors in order to help make a living together,” Estrada said. “Their stories are important and I’m honored that they trusted me to share them in this book.”