MistralAI: U.S. Child labour

 remember skepticism

Child labor in the U.S. is governed primarily by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which sets guidelines for the hours and types of jobs minors can perform. However, recent years have seen a concerning rise in child labor violations and legislative efforts to weaken protections:

Key Trends in 2025:

• There has been an 88% increase in child labor law violations since 2019, with children increasingly found working in hazardous conditions, such as factories, meatpacking plants, and overnight shifts in slaughterhouses americanprogress.org+1.
• At least 28 states have introduced bills to weaken child labor laws, and 12 have enacted them. For example, Iowa now allows 14-year-olds to work in factories and meatpacking facilities, and Indiana permits 16- and 17-year-olds to work the same hours as adults without parental permission americanprogress.org+2.
• Agricultural work remains a major exception: children of any age can work on small farms, and 12-year-olds can work on any farm with parental permission, even in hazardous condition shrw.org+1.

Federal vs. State Laws:

• The FLSA prohibits minors under 18 from working in nonagricultural occupations declared hazardous by the Secretary of Labor. However, some states are passing laws that conflict with federal standards, often under pressure from corporate lobbying chn.org+1.
• Project 2025, a conservative policy agenda, proposes further rolling back protections, arguing that labor shortages justify using child labor as a workforce strategy americanprogress.org+1.

Enforcement and Vulnerable Groups:

• Enforcement has increased under the Biden administration, but budget cuts and political shifts threaten these efforts. Migrant children, especially unaccompanied minors, are particularly at risk of exploitation hrw.org+1.

International Context:

• Globally, about 138 million children were still in child labor as of 2024, with nearly 40% in hazardous work. Progress has been slow, and the UN warns that eliminating child labor could take hundreds of years at the current pace AFP+1.

sources

• https://www.americanprogress.org/article/project-2025-would-exploit-child-labor-by-allowing-minors-to-work-in-dangerous-conditions-with-fewer-protections/
• https://www.unicefusa.org/sites/default/files/2025-02/UNICEF_USA_ChildLaborReport.pdf
• https://myhrconcierge.com/2025/04/15/what-employers-need-to-know-regarding-2025-child-labor-law-changes/
• https://ogletree.com/insights-resources/blog-posts/states-redraw-the-rules-on-child-labor/
• https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/03/11/new-us-labor-secretary-congress-should-act-child-labor
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_labor_laws_in_the_United_States
• https://www.chn.org/voices/child-exploitation-and-project-2025-rewriting-the-fair-labor-standards-act/
• https://www.epi.org/publication/child-labor-standards-state-solutions-to-the-u-s-worker-rights-crisis/