What’s happening in Iowa is not unique. In the past year, lawmakers in at least 10 states have sought to undo child-labor protections. Arkansas just eliminated a rule in effect for decades requiring the state to verify the ages of 14- and 15-year-olds before they took a job. A bill in Minnesota would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to work in construction.
Proponents of these changes say they are giving young Americans a chance to gain valuable experience and income. But the overwhelming evidence — both recent and historic — is that children get hurt and exploited in many jobs. Teens are nearly twice as likely as adults to be seriously injured at work and are often paid the lowest wages. Allowing children to work dangerous jobs and longer hours is a shameful step back in time. This is not the way to address labor shortages.
Lawmakers and business leaders who champion these bills often talk fondly of babysitting, mowing lawns and delivering newspapers in their youth. But those jobs typically took place in a young person’s neighborhood. They are very different from working in fenced-off factories, in freezers or on construction sites around equipment that can be fatal.
Child-labor law violations in the United States have nearly quadrupled since 2015, according to the Labor Department. That only reflects incidents that come to light. A Reuters investigation last year found 12-year-olds working at suppliers for Hyundai and Kia in Alabama. A recent New York Times investigation found 13-, 14- and 15-year-olds working jobs in construction, food processing and hotel cleaning. The Post chronicled the story of a 13-year-old cleaning a Nebraska meatpacking plant.
The young people who end up in rough jobs — whether legal under state law or not — are typically poor. The recent surge of unaccompanied migrant children from Central America has provided a pool of cheap labor for some businesses. Lawyers such as Laura Peña, director of the American Bar Association’s South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project (ProBAR), who meet these children in detention facilities along the U.S. border, describe how these minors frequently ask how long they have to go to school and how much they can work. The adolescents are often indebted to someone who helped them cross the border, and they are expected to send money to family back home. They typically don’t speak English and don’t know their rights. Ms. Peña and others try to educate them, but, as the New York Times revealed, an alarming number of these migrant children are released to guardians who are not their parents or relatives. There are few safeguards.
Instead of rolling back child-labor protections, lawmakers and other leaders at the state and federal levels should increase them. Children, including migrant youths, should be in school. President Biden and his team have vowed to do more, but it will take a big, coordinated push from all levels of government.
The Labor Department needs to step up enforcement, and Congress should increase fines for companies that hire children. The maximum fine is currently $15,000 per occurrence — a pittance. It’s also not enough to raid one factory. Often, a crackdown at one leads young workers to move to another nearby.
The Health and Human Services Department is responsible for releasing migrant children from detention centers to “guardians” in the United States. It’s become clear that a growing number of children are not being released to relatives and are in danger of being trafficked. The HHS process needs to change. Mr. Biden can also step up enforcement of anti-trafficking laws already on the books.
Most of all, people who see wrongdoing should be empowered to speak up. Teachers, especially those in English language learner classrooms, can see which students are falling asleep in class because they worked all night, or notice when someone suddenly drops out. Religious leaders also are often on the front lines. Whistleblowers in the community require clear places to report child labor, and agencies that receive the warnings must follow up.
The United States passed landmark child-labor protections in 1938. Then-Labor Secretary Frances Perkins was a driving force behind the law. She personally witnessed the horrific 1911 fire at a New York City clothing factory where 146 young people died, and she never forgot the tragedy.
Nearly a century later, it should not take more adolescent deaths for lawmakers to once again protect children from dangerous jobs.
