Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders signed the Youth Employment Act of 2023 to eliminate the need for parents or guardians to consent to their child’s employment or employment certification.
In Iowa, there is a bill allowing 14- and 15-year-olds to get certain jobs in the meat processing industry. It also protects employers from civil liability if an employed child is injured or dies on the job.
In Ohio, the Senate has passed a bill to ease labor protections for minors. With the permission of their legal guardian, the 14-year-old and her 15-year-old can work until 9pm any day of the year. Current Ohio law prohibits children under the age of 16 from working in the middle of the school year. The bill would continue to limit a child under the age of 16 from working more than her three hours a day on school days and more than her 18 hours a week during school years.
These examples of the trend to repeal child labor laws, largely by so-called Red State Republicans, have caught many off guard. That’s because before the current legislative session, there was evidence of the widespread use of child labor in hazardous sanitation work in the meat processing industry. They often contained substances and dangerous machinery.
But Republicans say they’re just cutting out some bureaucracy, and end with the state’s child labor protection base. Sanders said it’s important to protect children, but it’s also important to remove the burden on parents who don’t need government approval for their children to get a job.
The meat processing industry’s widespread reliance on child labor has resulted in a $1.5 million fine and a Department of Homeland Security investigation into meat processor trafficking.
Many of the millions who entered the United States say they are heavily in debt to Mexican cartels and highly susceptible to human trafficking schemes.However, there are no state reports that laws have been strengthened to combat human trafficking.
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