On this edition of Your Call's Media Roundtable, we discuss the surge in child labor in the US.
Since 2018, the Department of Labor has documented a 69 percent increase in children who were employed illegally across industries.
A Food and Environment Reporting Network analysis of investigation data released by the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division—which is tasked with enforcing federal child labor laws—found that more than 75 percent of recent child labor violations were committed by employers in the food industry. The agency uncovered more than 12,000 child labor violations in the nation’s food system—out of 16,000 total violations across all industries.
At least 10 states have introduced or passed laws rolling back child labor protections.
Guests:
Mica Rosenberg, national immigration reporter at Reuters
Teresa Cotsirilos, staff writer and producer at the Food and Environment Reporting Network
Web Resources:
Reuters: U.S. Senate bill aims to bar child labor violators from some federal contracts
Reuters: Bipartisan bill aims to increase penalties for US child labor violations
Reuters: Teen risked all to flee Guatemala. Her payoff: grueling job in U.S. chicken plant
Reuters: Child workers found throughout Hyundai-Kia supply chain in Alabama
