Thousands of low-income youths are working in violation of federal law and are struggling to complete school.
“No one cares about kids working in agriculture,” he says. “I worry about what will happen to my body when I’m 40 or 50.”500,000 kids under the age of 18 in the U.S. who plant, pick and package our crops, all of it legal due to a loophole in the 1938. Under the act, young farm laborers are denied the protections afforded to other school-aged children.
The number of kids employed in violation of child labor laws spiked by 37 percent in 2022 — and by 283 percent since 2015.in other states are equally egregious and include an Ohio bill to allow teenagers to work until 9 pm on school nights ; a Minnesota bill to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to work in construction; and a New Jersey bill to permit 16- and 17-year-olds to work 50 hours a week during school breaks.
Until we change the way we support youth, she continues, current policies will continue to allow the conditions for child trafficking and labor exploitation to flourish. “When we refuse to feed kids, when we refuse to give them a safe place to live or provide them with the chance to go to a school where they can get counseling and medical care that goes beyond a nurse giving out a Band-Aid, we’re making it possible for them to be taken advantage of,” she says.
In addition, Ditmore says, recent arrivals are often told that they owe money to the person who helped them get to the U.S, got them a job or gave them false papers. “Most people want to be honorable, and even if they suspect that the debt is bogus, they want to be free of it,” she explains. “They may not be in actual debt bondage, but they may fear that they or their families will be harmed if they don’t pay.
Students, she continues, often have to run to work after school and sometimes have to work before the school day begins. “They sometimes find it hard to do homework or stay awake in class. Our teachers and staff try to design curricula around their needs and give them opportunities to complete assignments during the school day. We’re flexible. We know that high school completion may take five or six years, so we allow students to remain enrolled until they’re 22.
The goal, of course, is keeping new arrivals in school, and like other advocates, Evangelista is encouraged by the recent introduction of several bills that will crack down on labor violators and rein in child exploitation. What’s more, she is encouraged that over the past two years, the Department of Labor has ramped up inspections and leviedacross the country.
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