CHICAGO (NewsNation) — States across the nation are moving to ease child labor laws as the federal government is finding a rising number of violations of laws still on the books, some involving grade-schoolers who have jobs.
The US Department of Labor found two 10-year-olds working at a McDonald’s in Kentucky, unpaid and sometimes working until 2 a.m.
This is just one of hundreds of child labor violations recently uncovered by the agency.
In fiscal year 2022, federal investigators reported a 40% increase in kids working in hazardous conditions compared to just five years ago. More than 3,800 minors were employed nationwide in violation of federal child labor laws. That’s up 140% since 2017.
The number of children being employed illegally has been steadily growing, with a 69% increase since 2018. Last year, the U.S. Department of Labor found that 835 companies were employing about 3,800 children in violation of labor laws.
In the past two years, hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied migrant children have crossed into the United States and many end up working to try to make ends meet.
So why is this happening?
Some labor experts blame the ongoing worker shortage made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, in the past two years, 10 states have introduced or passed laws that have weakened child labor laws. The 10 states include Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
People in favor of the move say this is a good thing, keeping kids off the streets and in the workforce. But critics say weakening child labor laws will actually weaken the economy, not grow it.
“They’re learning how to handle various aspects of a job. Maybe cooking, cleaning, running a cash register,” attorney Andrew Reed said. “There’s a flipside. They are taken to the extreme of having to work longer hours than they’re supposed to or doing jobs they most likely shouldn’t be doing.”
One of those jobs is being around liquor. Despite being far under the legal drinking age, the Iowa state legislature passed a bill on Wednesday that will roll back hazardous work protections for 14- and 15-year-olds. It will also allow 16-year-olds to serve alcohol.
In neighboring Wisconsin, legislators are working to get a bill passed that allows 14-year-olds to actually serve liquor.
Devan Markham contributed to this report.