I should use this word more often.  It’s fun like ‘balderdash’ and deserves equal opportunity.

guttersnipe (gut·ter·snipe): / GUHT er snipe /
noun

(1) a person of the lowest economic or moral stature; someone characteristic of the lowest social class
(2) a street urchin; a homeless vagabond, especially an outcast boy or girl with ragged clothes and rough manners

[Originally used on Wall Street to refer to “streetcorner brokers.”  The general meaning stems from the common snipe (Gallinago gallinago), a bird that likes muddy wet conditions, and the idea of street cleaners used in reference to young children seen collecting paper and rags from gutters.]

Usage: After her mother died and her father abandoned her, she was forced to live as a guttersnipe in the city’s slums.