Child Labor Coalition

1701 K Street, NW, Suite 1200, Washington, DC  20006

Phone 202.835.3323          Fax 202.835.0747

email childlabor@stopchildlabor.org              www.stopchildlabor.org

 

2004 Child Labor State Survey

 

 

Respondents:                       32 state labor departments, (or equivalent) child labor contacts

 

                                                Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming

 

Non-Respondents:               19 state labor departments including the District of Columbia.

 

                                                California, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia, Vermont, and Washington

 

 

Response Rate:                    63 percent

 

 

Date Of Survey:                    July 2005

 

 

 

Prepared by the National Consumers League for the Child Labor Coalition,

1701 K Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006; 202-835-3323; (fax) 202-835-0747

December 2005


2004 Child Labor State Survey Highlights

 

 

 

State Child Labor Enforcement Personnel in 2004

·         360 compliance officers are responsible for enforcing all state labor laws (including child labor) in 32 states.  19 of the total of 360 are responsible for investigating child labor compliance/violations exclusively.

  • 21 states (66 percent of survey respondents) have ten or fewer compliance officers who are responsible for enforcing labor laws in the state, including child labor.  Only two states have a total number of 25 or more compliance officers.  Four states have no compliance officers.  Top state with enforcement personnel is New York at 96 compliance officers.
  • Average compliance officer presence in reporting states:
    • 11.3 compliance officers (counting New York) – (2003 results were 13.8)
    • 8.5 compliance officers (not counting New York) – (2003 results were 11.8)

 

 

Child Labor Inspections in 2004

  • Total inspections for labor law compliance (including child labor) and inspections finding child labor violations:       
    • Total Inspections:  32 states report 44,931 (In 2003, 38 states conducting 62,621)
    • Total Inspections Finding Child Labor Violations: 32 states report 4,059 (In 2003 -- 36 states reporting 14,469
  • Total illegally employed minors found in 32 reporting states:  3,243 (In 2003 – 30 states reporting 4,755 minors)
  • Only five states reported conducting inspections targeting child labor compliance in agriculture with three states reporting finding child labor violations.  A total of 9 minors were illegally found employed in two states; one state could not provide figures.
  • In total, 32 reporting states collected a total of $1,149,093 for child labor violations (2003 – 39 states reported collecting $1,865,249).  Nine states reported either the state does not exercise authority to assess/collect civil money penalties or the state does not have the authority to do so.
  • The top five child labor violations related to minors engaged in prohibited hazardous work involved:  retail and restaurants (some specified -- working alone in cash-based business; working without adult supervision; cooking; baking; serving alcohol); construction; power-driven machinery; driving on public roads or operating forklifts; and roofing.

 

 

Other Data

  • Five states reported occupational deaths among minors under age 18 with a total of 7 deaths (1 – delivery driving; 4 – agriculture; and 2 – construction). 
  • The reporting states’ two top enforcement strategies for child labor are employer education off site and employer education at business site, respectively.  Unannounced inspections ran a distant third and announced inspections appear to be rarely used.
  • Five states reported changes in their child labor laws/regulations.

2004 Legislation & Regulation

 

1.         Were changes made to your child labor laws/regulations in FY 2004?

           

State

Legislation

Regulation

AL

No

No

AK

No

No

AZ

No

No

AR

No

No

CT

No

No

FL

No

No

GA

Yes

**

HI

No

No

ID

No

No

IN

No

No

IA

No

No

LA

Yes

Yes

ME

No

Yes

MN

No

No

MO

No

No

MT

No

No

NE

No

No

NH

No

No

NJ

No

No

NM

No

No

NY

No

No

ND

No

No

OH

No

No

OK

No

No

OR

No

Yes

SC

No

No

SD

No

No

TX

No

No

UT

No

No

WV

No

No

WI

No

Yes

WY

No

No

 

Notes: **No answer given.

NE: Passed legislation in 2005 to ban door-to-door sales for minors under 16.

 


2. Were any changes made in hours regulations in your state during FY 2004? If yes, were they relaxed or made more stringent?

 

State

Hours Regulation

Changes?

Relaxed 

More Stringent

AL

No

 

 

AK

No

 

 

AZ

No

 

 

AR

No

 

 

CT

No

 

 

FL

No

 

 

GA

No

 

 

HI

No

 

 

ID

No

 

 

IN

No

 

 

IA

No

 

 

LA

Yes

X

 

ME

No

 

 

MN

No

 

 

MO

No

 

 

MT