Since 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor has seen a 69 percent increase in children employed in violation of federal child labor laws. Hard-fought progress made five generations ago to eliminate child labor exploitation is being undone in cities and communities across the country.
America is better than that.
In February 2023, the Department of Labor launched an Interagency Task Force to Combat Child Labor Exploitation, bringing together federal agencies to improve information sharing, provide outreach and education to the public, and coordinate efforts to advance the health, education, and well-being of children in the U.S.
The department has launched a National Strategic Enforcement Initiative on child labor and is using all of our enforcement and legal tools to stop companies from profiting illegally on the backs of children by taking violators to court and invoked the Fair Labor Standards Act “hot goods” provision to prevent shipment of goods produced using illegal child labor are also scrutinizing labor violations at all steps in industry supply chains.
To strengthen our efforts, our leadership has called on Congress to bolster protections for children and toughen penalties for companies that use child labor, which currently stand at a maximum of just $15,138 per violation. That’s not high enough to be a deterrent for major profitable companies. Further, the Labor Department has requested increased funding for its enforcement agencies to investigate child labor cases and to expand outreach to employers, workers’ advocacy groups, schools and other community resources to educate employers and workers on the law.
We cannot put profitability ahead of the physical, emotional and educational well-being of children. That is not the basis for a sound and just economy. Our job is to make sure a teen’s work experience is positive and safe – and does not endanger them or interfere with their educational opportunities.
We cannot allow children in America to return to laboring in modern-day workhouses. Our national and state leaders must come to the table and work together to prevent the scourge of child labor abuse from again becoming an American-made tragedy.
We cannot build our economy on the backs of children. America was better than that 100 years ago, and America is better than that today.
Michael Lazzeri is the Regional Administrator of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division in Chicago. His region includes Ohio.
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