How Common Is Child Labor in the U.S.? - Atlantic Mobile
“State legislators across the country have launched an unprecedented series of initiatives aimed at lowering labor standards, weakening unions, and eroding workplace protections for both union and non-union workers,” said Gordon Lafer, a professor at the University of Oregon, in a report “The Legislative Attack on American Wages and Labor Standards” he wrote for the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.
Lafer attributed the passage of some of the laws to the dramatic changes in many state legislatures after the 2010 midterm elections, when Republicans gained unprecedented control at the state level. In that election, 22 legislatures changed majority control, all to the GOP.
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The department received 19 child-labor complaints and found 467 child-labor violations in 2010, according to a state report; the next year, they found just 191 violations, on 26 complaints.
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Maine Governor Paul LePage already said earlier this year that he wanted the state to go even further and allow 12-year-olds to work. He had previously proposed a subminimum wage for young workers of $5.25.
A law went into effect in August in Minnesota creating a youth wage of $6.50 an hour for workers under 18 (there had previously not been a separate youth wage).
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