Recently, I was invited by state Rep. Judd Strom, R-Copan, and Labor Commissioner Leslie Osborn to testify at an Oklahoma House interim study examining child labor laws and what is happening across the nation.

The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy is also grateful to Rep. John Talley, R-Stillwater, chair of the Children, Youth and Family Services Committee, for hearing the study. To begin, let’s examine the situation that exists today.

As of August, there were 6.4 million unemployed people in the U.S. labor market. In comparison, there are 8.8 million job openings. This is driven by the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic:

Since the pandemic, we have lost 8 million workers from the workplace;

300,000 Americans of working age have died from COVID-19;

1.5 million workers retired earlier than expected due to the pandemic;

4 million have left the workforce due to long COVID-19;

2 million fewer women have left the workforce due to child care shortages (driven by COVID-19 losses) and familial needs; and

2 million fewer working-age immigrants than pre-2020 trends, of which 1 million are college-educated, are in the workforce.

Making it worse are:

An aging workforce. The median age is 39 years old, and we are aging faster than at any other time in history;

A lower birth rate. The birth rate is the lowest in history and is projected to decrease over the rest of the century;

Decreased immigration. Net immigration peaked in 2016 at 1.2 million and then has declined every year since, rising only in 2022; and

Employment projections. The U.S. economy is projected to add 4.7 million more jobs from 2022 to 2032.

Currently, the minimum age to be employed in Oklahoma is 14 years. Children working either on farms or for parents or any entity in which a parent owns an equity interest are exempt from this age limitation.

Additionally, children engaged in the sale or delivery of newspapers to consumers are also exempt.

Our state issues work permits for youths, also known as the Employment Certificate for Age and Schooling. The work permit must be approved by the principal or equivalent administrative officer of the school which the child attends or should be attending or the child’s parents if the child is being schooled at home.

The certificate verifies the minor’s age and the compulsory school requirements in accordance with Title 70, Section 10, of the Oklahoma statutes.

A minor under 16 years may work up to three hours on school days (Monday to Friday), up to eight hours on non-school days and up to 18 hours in a school week. Additionally, minors may work up to 40 hours in a non-school week if school is out for the entire week, but they may not work overtime.

Some might say these figures show why we should relax child labor laws. The fact is this clearly is not the solution.

We know that relaxed child labor laws harm youths working too many hours on a job and not being able to devote the necessary time, energy and attention to education — on top of time for a kid to just be a kid.

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