Most children must work, or there are also some living at the street of Quito and other larger cities. Some earn a few cents by shining shoes, selling cigarettes or other items. This is not only the hard life of the children. You can see grown men sitting trying to sell anything, just to get trough the day. Then it's easy to fall into the pit.
Families have a harder time to survive in the larger cities.
At the countryside there may be better.