The number of illegal child labor in the United States has surged by 69%! Children at a young age who endure exceptionally difficult work for adults | United States | Quantity
China Daily, June 19 (Xinhua) - The New York Times first revealed a few months ago that some American companies have long employed children as young as 12 years old to work in hazardous environments. According to data from the US Department of Labor, the number of illegal child labor in the United States has surged by 69% since 2018; In the fiscal year 2022, a total of 835 companies in the United States illegally employed over 3800 child laborers, an increase of over 1000 people from the previous year.
According to an article on the VOX website on June 16th, states across the United States are pushing to weaken child labor protection laws in the face of a continuous shortage of workers. Some bills have extended the working hours of children under the age of 16, while others have lowered the age limit for children to serve alcohol in bars and restaurants. A bill in Iowa will even allow children under the age of 14 to work in meat cold storage.
Screenshot of VOX website report in the United States
The article highlights that many states in the United States allow children as young as 12 to harvest tobacco on farms and milk 1500 pound cows. Even if they are not yet 12 years old, as long as the farm is small enough or exempted by the Ministry of Labor, these children can still work on the farm.
Reed Mekey, director of child labor advocacy at the National Consumer Union and the American Child Labor Union, pointed out that agriculture is one of the most dangerous industries in the United States and the deadliest job for minors, which is very unsettling.
The agricultural sector in the United States is a high-risk area for child labor. The article states that although the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 in the United States prohibited children aged 14 and under from working in most industries, agricultural labor was excluded. "At that time, many child laborers were children of color, black children," said Meggie. "Now they are brown children."
The article states that although there is no exact data on the number of minors employed on American farms, a 2014 survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated this number to be around 148000, with over half of the children engaged in crop production and the rest working in animal husbandry. However, advocacy groups believe that the actual number may be two to three times higher.
In addition, the US government has not tracked the number of children under the age of 16 employed in agriculture, let alone work-related injury reports in this age group engaged in agriculture. It is estimated that nearly 12000 workers under the age of 20 were injured in agricultural related accidents in the United States in 2014, but the actual number should be much higher.
Jacqueline Aguilar is a child laborer working in agriculture in Colorado. She stated that many child laborers have not reported their injuries, either because they are concerned that they or their families are illegal immigrants and may be deported, or because they lack medical insurance or do not have the money to afford medical expenses.
The problem of child labor in the United States not only causes harm to minors, but also has a backlash on themselves. According to a report on the website of WFMZ-TV in the United States, a latest study released by Goldman Sachs consulting and analysis firm Elevate shows that the United States, as the world's wealthiest economy, has failed to provide sufficient protection for vulnerable groups, including children, and the increasingly serious problem of child labor is a concern. The ranking of almost all indicators in the study is declining, and the United States is listed as a high-risk country in the supply chain.
Screenshot of WFMZ-TV website report in the United States
Agila believes that children should do what they should do, rather than doing a job that is difficult for adults like adults. "This needs to be changed. These children should not experience this at this age, and we should not experience it at this age," she said.
