Several key sources provide information on the number and characteristics of working children. The Current Population Survey (CPS), compiled monthly by BLS, is the primary source of information on the United States labor force. CPS provides nationally representative information on the number and characteristics of working children age 15 and older, including data on where children work, the types of jobs they hold, and how many hours a week they work. In addition, it provides demographic information on children such as age, race, ethnicity, and family income. Because the data have been collected for over 50 years, they can be used to show how the number and characteristics of working children have changed over time. Labor also compiles two additional sources of nationally representative data on working children. The first is the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). The most recent NLSY began in 1997 and is referred to as “NLSY97”; it contains data on one group of approximately 9,000 children born from 1980 to 1984. NLSY provides detailed information on the work experiences of this group of children over time and captures data not collected in CPS, such as information on children younger than 15 and in-depth information on children’s work habits, education, and personal lives. NLSY, however, cannot be used to show how the number and characteristics of all working children have changed over time because it only includes information on one group of children born from 1980 to 1984. The second set is the National Agricultural Workers Survey in which data are collected several times each year from a sample of crop agricultural workers. This survey provides data on the number and characteristics of children who work in migrant agriculture, their educational attainment, and their mobility. The information can be used to supplement data on children in CPS and NLSY but it is limited. Labor added questions to the survey in fiscal year 2000 to obtain additional data on children who work in agriculture but has not been able to obtain data on a sufficiently large number of children working in crop agriculture to provide information that is statistically reliable. The primary sources of data on children who are injured or killed as a result of work-related injuries come from BLS and NIOSH. BLS reports all work-related fatalities, including those for children, in its Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries published each year. BLS identifies these fatalities through death certificates and reports from state workers’ compensation agencies, medical examiners, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the news media. BLS collects data on the number of nonfatal work-related injuries and illnesses in its Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses from a sample of the injury records that employers in private industry are required to maintain. NIOSH collects data on work- related injuries in its National Electronic Injury Surveillance System from a sample of emergency room records. The employment of working children is generally covered by FLSA and its implementing regulations, which limit the types of jobs, number of hours, and times of day that children younger than 16 years of age can work. Generally, most children younger than age 14 are prohibited from working in nonagricultural employment other than casual free-lance jobs such as babysitting and delivering newspapers. Children who are 14 and 15 years old may work in many jobs in retail stores, restaurants, and gas stations. They may not, however, work in any job considered hazardous, including jobs in manufacturing, mining, construction, transportation, warehousing, communications, and public utilities. The provisions also prohibit 14- and 15-year-olds from working during school hours and limit the number of hours and times of day they can work. (See table 1.) FLSA also authorizes the Secretary of Labor to designate certain types of jobs and equipment as too hazardous for children under the age of 18. Once children reach age 16, they are only prohibited from working in jobs or with equipment covered by these Hazardous Occupations Orders, they are not limited as to the number of hours or times of day they can work. These hazardous jobs and types of equipment are specified in 17 Hazardous Occupations Orders originally issued between 1939 and 1963. (See table 2 for a list of the occupations determined to be hazardous by the Secretary of Labor.) In 2002, NIOSH completed a review of the Hazardous Occupations Orders for Labor. Its report, issued in July 2002, made several recommendations for changes to the orders, including establishing new hazardous orders prohibiting all children younger than age 18 from working in the construction industry and from working at a height of 6 feet or higher on ladders, scaffolds, trees, and other structures.Labor is in the process of reviewing the report and deciding what actions it will take in response to the recommendations. For jobs in agriculture, the child labor provisions are much less restrictive. Children of any age may work an unlimited number of hours (outside of school hours) in nonhazardous jobs, either on a farm owned by their parents or on a noncommercial farm with the written consent of their parents. Children aged 14 and 15 are allowed to work an unlimited number of hours in nonhazardous jobs outside of school hours without parental consent and, once they reach age 16, they are allowed to work in agricultural jobs deemed hazardous. The child labor provisions of FLSA do not cover all children. Children who work for employers whose annual gross volume of sales is less than $500,000 and whose work cannot be linked to interstate commerce are not covered under FLSA, although they may be covered under state child labor laws. In addition, children who are self-employed are not subject to the child labor provisions of FLSA. Furthermore, although children who work for their parents are prohibited from working in occupations and operating equipment listed in the Hazardous Occupations Orders, they are not subject to other restrictions of FLSA. When children reach age 18, they are no longer covered under the child labor provisions of FLSA. In 2001, several legislative proposals were submitted in the House of Representatives and the Senate that would strengthen the child labor provisions of FLSA. The proposals include the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment of 2001, which would, among other things, increase the maximum penalties for child labor violations and prohibit children aged 16 and 17 from working in hazardous occupations in agriculture. The Young American Workers’ Bill of Rights would amend the FLSA to require employers to obtain work permits for all children age 18 and under who are still in school, require Labor and the Census Bureau to compile data on child labor from the states, including data on injuries and illnesses, and add additional restrictions on child labor such as prohibiting children from making door-to-door sales for profit. (See app. II for a list of the legislative proposals introduced in the 107th Congress that would strengthen the child labor provisions of FLSA.) Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) is responsible for enforcing the child labor provisions of FLSA. WHD’s national office develops the goals and performance measures for Labor’s child labor compliance efforts and reports on the results of its efforts in annual performance plans. The national office is also responsible for providing guidance and training to WHD’s regional and district offices and for assessing the results of their child labor compliance efforts. Much of the responsibility for planning and executing these efforts, however, is left to the discretion of WHD’s five regional offices and the 50 district offices that report directly to the regions. The Child Labor Team Leader in the headquarters office is responsible for coordinating WHD’s child labor compliance efforts, including disseminating information and guidance to the regional and district offices, maintaining the section of the WHD Web site with information on child labor, maintaining the Field Operations Handbook for investigators, and overseeing special projects. WHD’s child labor compliance efforts comprise several strategies: enforcement, partnerships, education and outreach, and public awareness. Its public awareness strategy is designed to inform the general public about the child labor provisions of FLSA through activities such as press releases. WHD’s education and outreach activities—which WHD also refers to as “compliance assistance”—are specifically targeted to groups that can have an impact on youth employment, such as teachers, parents, and employers. Education and outreach activities include publishing and distributing materials such as bookmarks with information on the rules governing the employment of children under age 18, and maintaining a Web site with information on the child labor provisions of FLSA and state child labor laws. WHD’s enforcement actions include on-site investigations of employers and other activities designed to bring employers into compliance with the law. When WHD finds violations of the child labor provisions of FLSA during its investigations, it may assess penalties. The penalties for child labor violations depend on the severity of the violations, the number of times the violations occurred, and aggravating factors such as falsification of records and whether the employer has a record of previous child labor violations. The penalties range from $275 for a record-keeping violation to $11,000 for a violation involving a serious injury or death. Information on WHD’s investigations, violations, and penalties assessed is tracked in its investigations database–the Wage and Hour Investigative Support and Reporting Database, WHISARD. Over the past decade, according to data tabulated from CPS, the number and characteristics of working children have not changed. In 2001, working children were as sizable a part of the United States labor force as they were in 1990. Most children worked in a variety of occupations concentrated in a few select industries, primarily retail trade and services. The percentage of children who worked illegally, either because they worked in occupations prohibited under the law or more hours than allowed, also did not change. In 2001, as in 1990, minority children and children from families with annual incomes below $25,000 were more likely than other children to work illegally.