In his State of the Union Address, President Clinton stated that the U.S. will take a leadership role with the International Labor Organization on the global problem of child labor. While the national Child Labor Coalition applauds this commitment, we challenge the President to make protecting the working children and youth at home as well as abroad one of his legislative priorities. The United States is first among affluent countries in the rate of adolescents injured in the workplace. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health estimate that 200,000 adolescents are injured in the workplace every year and more than 100 are killed on the job. Children work long hours at stoop labor, handle dangerous equipment, and are exposed to pesticides.
Agriculture is one of the three most dangerous industries in the United States.
A 1998 analysis by Doug Kruse, Rutgers University, on illegal child labor in the U.S. estimates there are 148,000 illegally employed minors in an average week. State and federal compliance efforts often rely on complaint-driven investigations and employer education. In 1996, at least 26 states had ten or fewer compliance officers, responsible for enforcing labor laws in the state, including child labor laws. Federal wage and hour inspectors which total around 1,000, are responsible for ensuring labor law compliance under the Fair Labor Standards Act in more than 3 million U.S. workplaces. Most state laws and the federal child labor laws do not adequately reflect today's workplaces and occupational hazards.