Today the New York Times publishes a very interesting article about how the economic crisis is driving youths from their homes to live on the streets. In the USA! Children as young as 12 leave their homes in order to detach themselves from their families’ misery and embark on an alternative life (not without misery either, but at least it’s their own).

The reasons these kids leave their homes are the very same that millions and millions of children in third-world countries live on the streets. The difference being that the former might have only known economic crisis for a few years, while for the latter it is chronic, omnipresent and not sustainable.

It’s ironic and sad that even in the first world we are not capable of protecting these children, and that child-homelessness and, who knows, that scary and consolidating second generation, is nearer than we think.

The NYT article includes an interesting video. Check it out.