Child labour laws across the US are being watered down in nearly a dozen states and eroding protections that have been in place for decades.
With labour in short supply – unemployment is at its lowest level since 1969 – desperate employers are looking for teenagers to fill the gap.
But that means scrapping long-standing child protection laws, many of which date back to the 1930s.
The move is dividing political opinion, with business groups supporting the changes while labour unions and Democrats oppose them.
“We build better communities and workplaces by enforcing high safety standards and family-sustaining wages – not by employing children,” Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO federation of unions, told The National.
“Children, wherever they were born, belong in the classroom, not on the shop floor.”
The move comes as the US Department of Labour is reporting a sharp rise in the number of employers being prosecuted for hiring under-age staff. The latest figures collated by the department show a 37 per cent increase in the number of children found to be working illegally.
“We see every day the scourge of child labour in this country, and we have a legal and a moral obligation to take every step in our power to prevent it,” Labour Secretary Marty Walsh said in a statement this year.
The rise in illegal child labour in the US coincides with a massive influx of unaccompanied minors fleeing poverty and violence in Latin America, with 130,000 referred to US government shelters in the last fiscal year. The New York Times reported this year on an increased presence of migrant minors, some as young as 12, working across the American economy, from car factories to building sites and delivery services.
There have been some egregious breaches, including at three McDonald’s franchises – Bauer Food, Archways Richwood and Bell Restaurant Group – which collectively own 62 shops in Ohio, Maryland, Illinois and Kentucky. The Labour Department said investigators found two 10-year-olds working at a McDonald’s branch in Louisville.
“Under no circumstances should there ever be a 10-year-old child working in a fast-food kitchen around hot grills, ovens and deep fryers,” said a department district director, Karen Garnett-Civils.
Elsewhere, children aged 13-17 were found working overnight shifts at meatpacking plants in the South and Midwest.
Nevertheless, Republicans want to loosen controls.
In Iowa, for example, a new bill will allow those aged 16 and 17 to serve alcohol, if they have parental permission.
Children under 16 will be allowed to work until 11pm at the height of summer when schools are out, two hours later than the federal limits.
The bill also proposes allowing 14 and 15-year-olds to work up to six hours on a school day, when the federal limit is three.
Charles Wishman, the president of the Iowa Federation of Labour AFL-CIO, believes the Biden administration can block these changes.
“The new laws in Iowa and other states are out of compliance with federal law, and federal law does supersede state law," Mr Wishman told The National.
“It's now up to the US Department of Labour to make sure this is going to be enforced."
The changes have their supporters, including Jessica Dunker, president of the Iowa Restaurant Association.
“We have been supportive of this. Nobody thinks children should be working. However, teenagers are already working in our restaurants,” Ms Dunker said.
“This simply allows those who work in our restaurants more opportunities and more privileges. The revised law actually provides more protection to those under the age of 14.”
She said that more than one third of Iowans get their first job in a restaurant and that the bill did not expand the labour pool; it merely extended the hours those aged 14 and 15 could work.
“This is about supporting and valuing teenagers who want work in their off-school hours, as much as we value those on the football team or in the school drama production,” Ms Dunker said.
It is a similar story elsewhere. Minnesota, for example, is considering letting 16 and 17-year-olds work on building sites.
“Eliminating work opportunities for youth just because of their age will make it even harder for businesses to find reliable employees,” said Republican state Senator Rich Draheim, sponsor of the Minnesota bill.
“Businesses teach these youth workers skills that will prepare them for their future – and maybe even attract them to their industry for life.”
In Arkansas, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has signed the Youth Hiring Act, which will remove the need for 14 and 15-year-olds to get work permits.
Ohio legislators have passed a bill allowing 14 and 15-year-olds to work until 9pm during the school year, rather than 7pm.
New Hampshire now allows 14-year-olds to work in restaurants where alcohol is served.
These changes have horrified Terri Gerstein, director of the project on state and local enforcement at the Harvard Law School Centre for Labour and a Just Economy.
“Companies should address their labour needs by providing adult workers with better standards,” Ms Gerstein told The National.
“Children need to get a better education and are more at risk of injury in the workplace."
She said excessive hours and dangerous working conditions jeopardise children’s education.
“We should be protecting kids and making sure they are not exploited rather than opening the door to more exploitation.”
Many of the proposed changes appear to be in conflict with federal standards, such as banning teenagers under 18 from working more than three hours on school nights or more than eight hours at the weekend.
The changes leave employers in a difficult position, creating confusion among workers and companies given that federal law takes precedence. That could leave employers open to prosecution, even if they comply with state legislation.
“Many proposed changes to state child labour laws directly contradict federal standards designed to protect youth from well-documented dangers,” said the Economic Policy Institute, a left-of-centre think tank.
