Niños, niñas, y mujeres: Una amalgama vulnerable

(analytical): the main objective of this article is to examine the living conditions of the children who live in social welfare institutions called "Casa-hogar”. The findings presented here are based on the application of qualitative methodologies (direct observation, ethnography, structured interviews) in a city in central Mexico, with a synchronic perspective. The main result of this work is the documentation of the structural disadvantages characterizing female inner migration and the effects these population movements exert on the migrant women's children. The work concludes that the study of the vulnerability to which the children taken in by social welfare institutions are exposed must take into consideration the different forms of female social exclusion and the tensions that result from the children-oriented public policies. Key words: underprivileged childhood, social welfare, child care, studies on women, migration (Unesco Social Sciences Thesaurus).