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Monday, September 25th, 2023

US states relax child labor laws amid rise in illegal work

Author:    
Source:     Agence France-Presse (France) / Raw Story
Publication Date:     September 23, 2023 | 8:05AM ET
 Link: US states relax child labor laws amid rise in illegal work
Stephan:  

Corporations having rented state legislators and governors, particularly in Republican controlled states, are doing everything they can to make child labor legal. As this report describes, “the number of illegally employed minors has surged by 69 percent since 2018, according to Labor Department figures.” It is just another trend showing us that as a country we are going backwards. Another example of how the United States has become a nation that does not foster wellbeing, and see its citizens as exploitable peasants.

A child laborer Credit: Lewis Hine / NC Museum of History.

Working in industrial laundries at age 14, laboring up to 35 hours a week on top of school — some US states are relaxing the barriers to employing minors, despite rising cases of exploitation.

At least five states have amended their legislation covering adolescent job regulations, with Arkansas being the latest to see changes take effect in August.

But such shifts come as the number of illegally employed minors has surged by 69 percent since 2018, according to Labor Department figures.

Removing the work permit process for young people in Arkansas “might sound like it’s not a big deal, but we actually think it’s a pretty impactful law,” said Reid Maki, coordinator at the Child Labor Coalition.

“Eventually this will allow some kids to end up in jobs they really shouldn’t be in,” he told AFP, adding that the work permit requirement “should not have been removed.”

A spokesperson for Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders pushed back against that characterization, saying it is “still illegal for minors to work dangerous […]

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