On being a ‘worker student’: understanding the intersected identities of children and adolescents in Nicaragua

Abstract

Children and adolescents in Nicaragua have intersected identities as both school students and child workers. Most of the literature supposes that a child must be one or the other, and problematises ‘child workers’ as either victims or heroes. Yet, in Nicaragua, this is seldom the case, as most children and adolescents are both workers and students. Crenshaw’s concept of intersectionality helps to understand these young people’s lives: As students, they face multiple difficulties getting a decent education; as workers, they struggle for respect and fair treatment. However, as school students who also work, they face challenges specific to their intersected roles. In an empirical study, a group of socially committed adolescents accepted neither work nor school as identity-defining factors, emphasising instead their role in the community as rights defenders and builders of the future. Internationally, this ‘intersectionality lens’ may be helpful in developing policies that respect the rights of young worker-students.