Child labor may surprise many people as still exists in America, even though it was supposedly abolished decades ago. The Fair Labor Standards Act aimed to eliminate oppressive child labor, but it excluded much of the agricultural industry from its restrictions, leaving many children to work in the fields. Although some states have strengthened protections for children, enforcement of the laws has been inconsistent. In recent times, the number of minors who work, in violation of child-labor laws, has increased significantly. This increase can be attributed to a mix of factors, such as employers looking for inexpensive ways to fill a high number of dangerous vacancies, a wave of "unaccompanied minors" entering the country, human trafficking, and a growing number of state legislatures weakening child-labor laws to pander to industry groups. Recent reports from the Economic Policy Institute indicate that at least 14 states have recently passed laws to reduce child-labor protections. The laws extend working hours for minors, eliminate restrictions in hazardous jobs, lower the minimum age for kids to work in establishments that serve alcohol, or reduce sub-minimum wages. Iowa's new rules, for example, allow minors as young as 14 to work in industrial laundries and permit 16-year-olds to work in positions that include roofing excavation, demolition, and operating power-driven machinery. Unfortunately, these changes impose limits on employers' liabilities for the injury, illness, or death of a minor on the job. Consequently, teenagers are almost two times more likely than adults to get injured while working. Strangely, those advocating for these laws often invoke child welfare as a reason, as seen in Ohio, where a spokesman for the Ohio Restaurant Association acknowledged that it would cut down on children's screen time if their work hours increased. Political lawmakers have also urged Congress to lower the federal child-labor standards in support of their proposed rules. Similarly, the Republican governor of Arkansas, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, linked passings laws to end the state requirements that fourteen and fifteen-year-olds obtain a state permit and a parent's consent with parental rights.
According to Nina Mast, one of the co-authors of the E.P.I. report, the removal of a one-page form that informed parents of their child's labor rights eliminates a paper trail, making it difficult to monitor and enforce child-labor laws. This move opens the door for exploitation, and conservative groups, like the Foundation for Government Accountability based in Florida, are using a lobbying template to weaken child-labor laws in several states. Many fast-food chains employ teenagers and pay fines for violating labor laws as a cost of doing business, while parent companies pay lobbyists to help relax the laws. In February 2021, the Labor Department found over 100 children working in meatpacking plants and slaughterhouses in eight states, ranging from thirteen to seventeen years old, for Packers Sanitation Services, one of the largest food-sanitation companies globally. The plants were owned by major corporations, including Tyson Foods and JBS, but all three companies denied any wrongdoing. Being drawn from an underage labor pool of children who have recently crossed the border, some of these unaccompanied minors arrived in America from Central America and are allowed to stay in the country, but they need to work to repay their debts, and living expenses, and send money home. Debts owed by them could be attributed to traffickers, relatives, or a combination of both. The Biden Administration has started tackling the child labor issue by cracking down on it and asking Congress to enhance penalties against erring employers. However, with the shrinking budget of the regulatory state under pressure from debt-ceiling negotiations, it may be challenging to strengthen enforcement. Republicans believe that border insecurity is the root of the problem, but regardless, the fundamental problem here is indifference toward the welfare of children when profits are at stake.