Child Farmworkers: Too Young, Vulnerable, and Unprotected

Addressing Racial Inequity in America’s Child Labor Laws

Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG)’s new report highlights the lack of regulatory protections for child farmworkers and its racially discriminatory impact on children of color. We find children as young as 12 years old in the United States may be legally employed for unlimited hours, in the hot sun, exposed to heat, chemicals, and hazardous machinery, risking serious injury, illness, or death. The vast majority of these children are children of color.

We also found that:

• 22 states have no minimum age to work in agriculture;

• 25 states and D.C. set no limit on the number of hours in a day a child farmworker under 16 can work in the fields; and

• 35 states and D.C. allow children under 16 to work 7 days a week in the fields.

View or download the full report below.

Thank you to our co-author Reid Maki of the National Consumers League and the Advocacy Director of the Child Labor Coalition, as well as L4GG’s Pro Bono Partners who provided pro bono research and analysis for this report, including BNY Mellon, Brown Rudnick LLP, Digital Asset, GE, Hunton Andrews Kurth, Linklaters LLP, Major League Baseball, Nelson Mullins LLP, and Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP.

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