Who is using child labor in the U.S?

While there are established laws in the U.S. to protect children, similar laws in many developing countries do not exist or are not enforced. In the 1990s, Nike was exposed as using child labor in countries like Cambodia and Pakistan, with minors working seven days a week for as long as 16 hours per day.^[1] The backlash forced the company to change its practices. However, as recently as 2020, Nike was found to be using the forced labor of Uyghurs, an ethnic minority of Muslims, who had been detained by the Chinese government.

However, child labor is not only happening in other countries. Investigative reporter, Hannah Dreier, spoke to more than 100 migrant child workers in 20 states and found that these children were working dangerous jobs, very often during night shifts in factories.^[2] Dreier also interviewed underage children, some as young as 12, who were working as slaughterhouse workers, roofers, milking machine operators on dairy farms, dish scrubbers in restaurants, and machine operators in a sawmill.^[3] Sometimes the children go to school during the day and then rush off to their jobs after school. They are under intense financial pressure to send money back to their families in Central and South America while simultaneously having to pay their living expenses and debts from paying smugglers to get them to the U.S. border.^[4]

Large corporations benefit from the labor of these migrant child workers. For example, they work with giant ovens that make Chewy and Nature Valley granola bars and dinner rolls sold at Walmart and Target; tend fast-moving machinery that packed bags of Lucky Charms cereal and Cheetos; sew “Made in America” tags onto J. Crew shirts; debone chicken sold at Whole Foods; and process milk used in Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.^[5] The growth of migrant child labor is a result of a number of organizations turning a blind eye to violations of labor laws. Schools fail to report labor violations because they believe it might do more harm to the children while companies ignore the problem because they need workers.^[6] Without stricter oversight, the companies that hire these children will likely continue to do so.