Though the concept is nothing new, it’s gaining steam and poised to potentially become a permanent feature of the economy of the 2020s. “Child labor remains a key issue in state houses across the country in 2024,” Nina Mast, state economic analyst for the progressive, union-affiliated think tank Economic Policy Institute, told Fortune. “While the industry-backed movement to weaken child-labor protections continues to make progress, lawmakers and advocates for youth are fighting back in an increasing number of states.”
Mast is alluding to her think tank’s research showing that one particular industry overwhelmingly benefits from ambiguities in the federal laws governing child labor, to which many red states have responded by loosening regulations and lowering age limits.
That one industry is fast food.
This past January alone, eight states “introduced or took new actions” on proposed legislation that would reduce child-labor protections, per EPI research. These proposed laws involve children working more hours without breaks (and longer during their school weeks), clocking into factory or roofing jobs with dangerous conditions, or even looking after other children younger than themselves “without direct supervision.”
Since 2021, there have been attempts at legislation in 28 states to pierce holes in child-labor protections. As of 2024, 14 states have introduced counter legislation made to bolster child-labor protections, per EPI. This is at times contradictory, with the same states trying to introduce laws that roll back and bolster child-labor protections.