"Because they're working, squeegee kids lead more structured days," said O'Grady. "They're working, making money. We found that they're less reliant on the state for support than other street youth are, less likely to use shelters and less likely to go without food. They tend to have money in hand on a regular basis, so in many cases are relatively better off than other youth who are marginally employed and paid periodically."

  Commenting on recent legislation that would mean fines for squeegee kids, O'Grady says: "Given our findings, I think the provincial government should be thinking of alternative forms of employment for squeegee kids, rather than just trying to rid the province of a perceived problem."

  He also conducted a second study of 360 homeless youth in Toronto, finding that sexual and physical abuse leads many young people to a life on the streets and that lack of housing prevents many from finding regular paid employment.

  The squeegee study, reported in Security Journal, found that of a group of 107 homeless Toronto youths, less than one-quarter (24 per cent) engaged in theft under $50, versus 75 per cent of non-squeegee youth. Less than half of squeegee kids sell drugs, compared with 66 per cent of non-squeegee kids. Squeegee kids feel depressed often or always 28 per cent of the time and suicidal 12 per cent of the time, versus 58 per cent and 33 per cent respectively for non-squeegee kids.

  The study, titled "Sub-Employment and Street Youths: An Analysis of the Impact of Squeegee Cleaning on Homeless Youth," was co-authored by graduate students Rob Bright and Eric Cohen.

  The study of 360 homeless youth found that 43 per cent had spent at least part of their childhood in foster care or group homes. Nineteen per cent of males and 40 per cent of females cited sexual abuse as a key factor leading to their life on the streets, and 39 per cent of males and 59 per cent of females identified physical abuse as a further factor. These figures are significantly higher than incidences among the general population.

  The study, "Making Money, the Shout Clinic Report on Homeless Youth and Employment," was released in October. O'Grady and co-authors Steve Gaetz and Bryan Vaillancourt employed ex-street kids to carry out the interviews. The Shout Clinic is a Jarvis Street facility looking after the health needs of street youth. The report was funded by Human Resources and Development Canada and the City of Toronto.

  The researchers also found that those in the sex trade come from the most disadvantaged backgrounds. Sexual and physical abuse has led them to leave home earlier, which means they also have less education and underdeveloped work skills. Rates of depression among this group were the highest of all youth surveyed.

  The study found that street youth cluster around certain patterns of making money:

• panhandling or squeegeeing;

• crime and/or selling drugs;

• social assistance;

• sex trade (prostitution, escort services, stripping); and

• paid employment.

  The study found that street youth by definition lack a key determinant of employability: housing. The survey found that without housing, the search for work is difficult - no address to put on an application, no telephone to receive calls, no place to prepare for interviews.

  O'Grady began researching unemployed youth early in this decade while at the University of Toronto.

  "Living in downtown Toronto for the past 15 years, I've witnessed growing numbers of marginalized youth," he says. "The media have been quite critical of their activities, but using anecdotal evidence rather than informed opinion. I find this a very useful and worthwhile area of research because it is current and relevant, and can inform and influence the shaping of public policy."

  He has several more studies under way. One is a case study funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of 10 long-term squeegee kids. "We're looking at how squeegee kids live every day - what do they eat, how do they get places, how do they spend their money, what do they do with their leisure time?"

  For several years, O'Grady has extensively studied the methods young people use to get their hands on cigarettes. He and co-authors Mark Asbridge of the University of Toronto and Tom Abernathy of the Central West Health Planning Information Network in Hamilton recently published a paper in Tobacco Control on factors affecting tobacco sales to Ontario youth. A lengthier paper on the subject will appear early next year in Canadian Journal of Criminology.