As Incidents of child labor and child harm increase around the world, global laws must be established to protect every child with equal rights.

Academic Delays and Lost Earning Potential

Though the length of time children work, even in non-hazardous jobs, may seem relatively unimportant, research has repeatedly shown that a 20-hour limit matters. One European study says that extended working hours that lead to loss of educational opportunities can have devastating effects on a child’s future.  

“The negative effect of child labour is cumulative: the academic delay accumulated in the first year of labour adds to that of the following year, and so on,” the study explains.  “In the long run, child labour affects the number of years of schooling completed only when children work more than 15-20 hours of work per week. By impeding school completion and learning performance, child labour can also have an impact on adult labour market outcomes, particularly for employment requiring academic skills.”

Maki says the potential educational and economic impacts on young people are very concerning. “We’re very worried about the academic impact,” he says. “It can have lifelong consequences.” 

Studies repeatedly find that high school dropouts make significantly less than their peers who secure a high school diploma, while researchers have found that those who earn a college degree stand to earn more than $1 million more in lifetime earnings than their peers without a bachelor’s degree. 

“We don’t want to see kids sacrificing their economic future or consigning themselves to poverty for a lifetime,” Maki adds. 

Injury and Death

Even if a child is working within the parameters of legal employment, parents should be aware of the dangers—some of which may lead to injury or death. One of the most surprising workplace hazards parents should be aware of is driving. According to the CDC, traffic accidents are the leading cause of fatalities among teenagers, causing the deaths of approximately 2,800 young people ages 16-19 in 2020, and the injury of about 227,000 others. 

A report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics cites transportation incidents as the most frequent cause of death for all workers in 2021, “with 1,982 fatal injuries, an increase of 11.5 percent from 2020. This major category accounted for 38.2 percent of all work-related fatalities for 2021.” 

“Parents don’t know one of the most common ways that teens can die is in car accidents,” Maki says. “So you don’t want your teen taking a job where they’re being driven a lot or where they’re expected to drive themselves either. That increases the likelihood of premature death significantly.”

Beyond operating vehicles, children are at increased risk when they work in environments where they may be around heavy machinery or equipment. 

“The problem is teens are very compliant,” Maki adds. “They’re desperate to please their employers because it’s their first job.  So if an employer says, ‘Go throw these boxes into the compactor and press the button,’ well, the law is that the teen can throw the boxes in the compactor, but they can’t press the button because that’s how people get hurt or die.” 

No matter where their children are working, Maki emphasizes that parents need to be involved in the decision. “Parents need to be very engaged in this decision,” he says. “They need to talk to their kid, they need to talk to their employer, they need to make sure that there’s nothing dangerous that’s expected.”

Maki states one obvious solution to minimizing exposure to dangerous and illegal employment for children is for employers to attract qualified adult workers to such jobs instead, which would do much to address the perceived labor shortage—and research seems to support that view. 

“There are solutions to labor shortages including raising wages,” he says. “If you’re trying to attract adult workers, you just need to raise wages, and a lot of firms are reluctant to do that.” 

When it comes to ensuring the safety of our children and making strides in reporting illegal or unsafe child labor practices, Jessica Looman says that one of our most valuable resources can be our community networks. 

“We hope that parents, teachers, and community members will learn the signs of illegal child labor and unsafe workplaces and report it to us when they see indicators of child labor violations in their area,” she notes. “We all have to work together to make sure that our children are safe, healthy, and protected from exploitation.”

Establishing Laws to Prevent Child Labor

Illegal and dangerous child labor practices are pervasive throughout the USA and countries worldwide. The affects on both children of citizens and children of immigrants and migrants alike. In Maine, workplace injuries among minors have more than doubled in the past decade—from 162 in 2012 to 365 in 2022. 

Mike Roland, the Director of the Maine Bureau of Labor Standards noted earlier this summer that the state of Maine is “observing a marked increase in the numbers of work permits denied, violations of child-protective labor laws, and most disturbingly, in reported injuries to minors in Maine’s workplaces.” 

He adds that ultimately child labor violations affect everyone—not just immigrant or migrant workers. “It certainly happens in Maine to people who have lived here their entire lives,” he says.

Clear guidelines and laws focused on preventing illegal child labour, with severe punishments for employers who break the laws will not stop child labor but it will certainly provide tools to keep it in check. Strong child labor laws in USA can become the start and base for strong effective global child labour laws.

Every child deserves the right to be protected from dangerous work, overwork, and work before the age of availability. The more a child has the ability to be a child, allows the opportunity for that child to grow up into a productive member of society.