Children for Hire: Parts I through V
Author: Foster, David; Kramer, Farrell; Mendoza, Martha; Crenson, Matt
Date Published: 1997
59 years after congress outlawed child labor in its most onerous forms, underage children still toil in fields and factories scattered across America. The poorest and most vulnerable among them start working before other children start kindergarten. Many earn wages below the legal minimum, often in exhausting or even hazardous, jobs. These children live in a world apart from most Americans, hidden from consumers and even the companies that buy the products of their labor. Yet those products can sometimes be as close as the local mall or the corner grocery. In the past five months, the Associated Press found 165 children working illegally in 16 states, from the chili fields of New Mexico to the sweatshops of New York City. Part I of the series includes a description of the laws governing child labor and the extent of child labor in terms of numbers. Part II portrays first-hand accounts of life as a child laborer, attempting to impart some of the social and environmental conditions under which they labor. Part III examines the ill effects of pesticide exposure on child farmworkers, and even on child consumers. It also examines legal protections against pesticide exposures. Part IV examines occupational hazards, injuries and safety, and discuses laws designed to protect child laborers. Part V examines the inadequacy of Department of Labor protections against child labor abuses.
Date Published: 1997
59 years after congress outlawed child labor in its most onerous forms, underage children still toil in fields and factories scattered across America. The poorest and most vulnerable among them start working before other children start kindergarten. Many earn wages below the legal minimum, often in exhausting or even hazardous, jobs. These children live in a world apart from most Americans, hidden from consumers and even the companies that buy the products of their labor. Yet those products can sometimes be as close as the local mall or the corner grocery. In the past five months, the Associated Press found 165 children working illegally in 16 states, from the chili fields of New Mexico to the sweatshops of New York City. Part I of the series includes a description of the laws governing child labor and the extent of child labor in terms of numbers. Part II portrays first-hand accounts of life as a child laborer, attempting to impart some of the social and environmental conditions under which they labor. Part III examines the ill effects of pesticide exposure on child farmworkers, and even on child consumers. It also examines legal protections against pesticide exposures. Part IV examines occupational hazards, injuries and safety, and discuses laws designed to protect child laborers. Part V examines the inadequacy of Department of Labor protections against child labor abuses.
