[emidoots]

Teenagers young and older are definitely still working on fields here in the US[0], and also a good portion now work the processing facilities instead[1][2].

Whether it qualifies as 'an honest day's work' these days - or a cruel and punishing existence - I'll leave for you to decide.

[0] https://youtu.be/41vETgarh_8?si=S0dBolFjv04SSprh&t=497

[1] https://www.npr.org/2023/09/25/1201524399/child-labor-perdue...

[2] https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20230217-1

[ipnon]

It's a good point. I'm speaking of high school who are allowed to legally work in the state of Iowa. If a 16 year old willfully employing themself in an entry level job is considered exploitative child labor to you, I don't know what to say. One sad effect of the changes in labor in the state is that only citizens are beholden to labor laws, whereas those working under the table are not. So it's true there is child labor. The families and farm companies break the law because they still make more than they would back home, but it's less pay than what they are owed under the law, and the parents will lie about their child's age so they can begin working a few years earlier than they are allowed. It causes a cycle of poverty because the kids get used to the farm and they miss out on proper schooling.

[emidoots]

In Iowa, it is legal for (US citizen) children as young as the age of 12 to work on farms, for an unlimited number of hours, so long as their parents grant permission and they do not miss school. They have so far been unsuccessful at legislating to raise the age limit from 12 to 14[0] as the Children's Act for Responsible Employment act has failed to pass, due to strong opposition from agricultural industry groups.

Many of these children are pressured into it by parents who have no other financial options, as described in the video I linked above.

[0] https://www.iowapublicradio.org/news-from-npr/news-from-npr/...

[magic_smoke_ee]

It's working "perfectly" for the benefit of around a million heartless, horrible people based on the exploitation of a few million others.

> New York Times investigative journalist Hannah Dreier has interviewed more than 100 migrant children working in violation of child labor laws across 20 states.

>

> "I talked to a 12-year-old girl in Alabama who was working overnight stamping auto parts. I talked to a 12-year-old in Florida who came to this country and the next day was put to work roofing houses," Dreier says.

>

> Dreier met one 13-year-old boy in Michigan who worked 12-hour shifts at an egg farm, six days a week. "He told me that really he wanted to go to school, but he hadn't understood how expensive things were in this country," she says.

>

> Dreier estimates that some 250,000 children have crossed into the U.S. without their parents in the last two years, and that the majority of them wind up working full-time jobs.

https://www.npr.org/2023/05/04/1173697113/immigrant-child-la...

[7bit]

The will is there, but not the experience to know that the pay is ridiculous. People often think that kids and teenagers don't need to earn much, but they do the same job as a 40 year old would. However, the 40-year olds know that the pay is bad, that's why these positions are open to and taken by teenagers.

"Willfully" is such a toxic word to use here. Did you know that prostitutes also do that willfully? Do you think that's a fair assessment to make?

[cybercity]

Americans should be deeply ashamed of themselves if they think it is okay to have 16 year olds do field labour. The bar just keeps getting lower.

[SequoiaHope]

"The Labor Department is investigating Perdue Farms and Tyson Foods — two of the biggest poultry producers in the U.S. — after reports that migrant children as young as 13 have been working overnight shifts to clean the companies' plants. - The inquiry comes after The New York Times Magazine published last week a harrowing account of a 14-year-old boy, Marcos Cux, whose arm was nearly torn off while working at a Perdue slaughterhouse on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

According to the Times, Cux was hired by one of Perdue's contractors tasked with cleaning operations. He and other middle and high school-aged children made up about a third of the overnight shifts at the plant — handling acid and pressure hoses to wash away blood and meat scraps from industrial machines.

Under federal law, those tasks are strictly off limits for anyone under 18 because of the inherent risks. Cux admitted to lying about his age to get the job but the Times reported that it was a open secret among workers at the facility. The same practices were happening at a nearby Tyson-run plant."