Child Labor On The Rise

First published in the print column, Strictly Haresay

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, child labor in America is on the rise. The number of minors employed in violation of child-labor laws last year was up thirty-seven per cent from the previous year, and that number is two hundred eighty-three percent higher than figures from 2015.

Mind you, these numbers reflect only the violations that were caught by the government, so we can assume that’s actually a fraction of the true statistics.

Apparently, this surge is being propelled by unhappy employers desperate to fill jobs at the lowest possible cost, and a growing number of state legislatures that are weakening child-labor laws in deference to those industry groups.

Reading about these disturbing developments reminded me of a recent conversation I had with a friend who also grew up in the ranch country of northwestern Nebraska.  We were discussing the value of learning how to do hard work at a young age, contrasting our own experiences with that of today’s youth—many of whom have no clue how to even hold a broom, let alone operate heavy machinery, wrestle hay bales, or help brand and vaccinate three hundred head of calves.

As someone who was driving a tractor as soon as I was tall enough to see over the steering wheel and still reach the brake, it could be easy to dismiss such legislative back-peddling on child labor laws and chalk it up to getting back to basics of teaching kids the value of work. But it’s not really the kids who are benefiting from these loosened laws, as much as the companies seeking a cheaper demographic from which to build a work force.

There’s a word for that, and it’s called exploitation.

The difference between the hard work and long hours I put in as a kid (and many just like me out in this part of the world) and the kids these new looser laws are targeting, has to do with more life-building skills than just making money.

Much of the work I did, especially very early on, I didn’t get paid for. But I was excited when I was finally old enough to help; to be trusted; to demonstrate my competence and be counted upon. It was about mastery more than money. And no company seeking a sub-minimum wage employee is likely to inspire that principle in its workforce, no matter what age they may be.

I feel very fortunate to have grown up where and when I did, when the world was a bit more simple, and priorities less skewed. When the value of a hard day’s work lay in what was learned and achieved, and the satisfaction in its accomplishment, more than any exchange of dollar bills.