The Workforce - Illegal Teenage Labor In The United States

The chart above shows the percentage of workers aged 15-17 who worked illegally during the years 1971 to 1997. The chart shows that the prevalence of child labor is declining within this age group. This decline goes contrary to the number of child labor law violations found during the 1983-1991 time period; they nearly tripled. The high number of violations, which does not appear in the data, could be due to violations involving workers younger than age 15 — or in unreported places of work such as sweatshops.

Except for the years 1976-1980 and 1985-1990, most of the labor violations related to teenagers working in hazardous occupations. According to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), workers under 18 who work in non-agricultural jobs cannot work in hazardous occupations.

The table below shows the percentage of illegal child workers in the some of the occupations considered most hazardous. Teenagers working in hazardous occupations have a greater chance of sustaining injuries, including those that are permanently disabling or life-threatening.

Percentage of Illegal Child Workers, by Age and Occupation

Occupation	% of Illegal Workers
	Age 15	Age 16-17
Precision production, craft, repair; Operators, fabricators, laborers; Helpers and laborers; Transportation, material moving	48.3%	88.9%

The FLSA also sets guidelines on the number of hours those under age 16 may work. During a school week, 14 and 15 year olds may work 18 hours a week. During a week when school isn't in session, 14 and 15 year olds may work no more than 40 hours a week. Using these guidelines, if a child works the maximum number of hours allowable by law, he/she will average 23 hours per week over the course of a year.

The table below shows the percentage of legally and illegally working 15-year olds and the hours worked per week. On average, 15-year olds employed illegally worked 11.9 hours more per week than those working legally, with a majority, 80.4%, working slightly less or over the average maximum allowable hours per week.

Percentage of 15-year Old Workers, by Hours Worked, 1995-1997

Usual weekly hours	Legally working (%)	Illegally working (%)
1-18	78.4	19.7
19-25	11.2	49.6
26-40+	10.4	30.8

When teenagers work more hours than allowable by law, they have less time for school-work and other activities. In most cases, their grades suffer. In many cases, those working the most hours drop out of school. Most of these workers are in low-paying or labor-intensive jobs. Without an education, they will not be able to move up to a higher paying job that will allow them to earn a comfortable living. Also, they will not have the skills necessary to move to jobs that are less labor intensive as they get older and can no longer do such strenuous work.

In the next panel, we turn to the detection of illegal child labor and child labor violations.

Sources: Kruse, Douglas and Douglas Mahony, "Illegal Child Labor in the United States: Prevalence and Characteristics." Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, March 1998. Employment Standards Administration. Wage and Hour Division. U.S. Department of Labor. Child Labor Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) For Nonagricultural Occupations. Retrieved November 29, 2001 from http://www.dol.gov/dol/esa/public/regs/compliance/whd/whdfs43.htm.