Leading the Fight Against Child Labor in the U.S. with the Care Act

Growing up in rural, northern New Mexico on a small family farm, being around large pieces of heavy of equipment was normal. Every Luján kid was expected to help around the house, making sure the sheep’s barn was shoveled and clearing out our acequias every springtime. For many kids across America, this upbringing is not uncommon.

Back then, my siblings and I had our parents looking out for us, making sure we were learning the lessons daily farm life had to offer us, but also protecting us when things got too chaotic or unsafe.

Family farms are built on generations of family members leaning on one another. The saying, “Many hands make light work” would be the unofficial mantra of every successful small farm or ranch.

But I know there are hundreds of thousands of kids who do not have the same experience I did on my family farm.

Every day, children are illegally working in grueling jobs in meatpacking warehouses and auto-supply factories. Child labor violations have increased nearly 300% since 2015. And more enforcement is needed to crack down on these companies for hiring children.

In the agricultural sector, however, the law allows for very young children, even preteens, to work 70 or 80 hours a week in the fields.

I am proud the Naitonal Consumers League (NCL) is supporting my legislation, the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment in Agriculture (CARE Act). Current child labor laws in agriculture allow children who are only 12 to work unlimited hours so long as they are not missing school. Throughout this country, hundreds of thousands of kids are working in extremely challenging conditions, harvesting fruits and vegetables, impairing their education, and risking their health from pesticide poisoning and dangerous farm equipment.

My CARE Act would amend the existing Fair Labor Standards Act by aligning age and hour work standards for children working in agriculture with the standards we maintain for other industries. If a 12-year-old cannot work in an air-conditioned office—and they should no —they must not be permitted to work long hours in the field. CARE would raise the age for hazardous work in agriculture from 16 to 18 —the same as other sectors. In addition, CARE would significantly increase both the civil and criminal penalties for child labor violations to create a strong deterrent against exploiting children, and it would strengthen protections for children from pesticide and chemical exposure.

The CARE Act would maintain family farms, 4-H, educational, and vocational training exemptions so children can engage in activities that encourage them to pursue agricultural careers, and it would protect their ability to work on their own family farms. Nothing is more important than protecting the health and futures of our children. Children must be allowed to develop and to learn, but too many are performing backbreaking and often hazardous labor. Throughout its long, successful history, NCL has worked diligently to protect children from exploitation in the labor market. There are still gaps in these protections, though, and I am proud to be working with NCL in making sure we close them.

Children need NCL as much today as they ever have. And they need the advocacy of the Child Labor Coalition—more than 35 national and global organizations strong— that NCL founded.

It is my pleasure to congratulate the NCL and its dedicated leadership and staff on the organization’s 125th anniversary and I look forward to continuing to work with Sally Greenberg and her team in protecting the most vulnerable among us.

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U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján has represented New Mexico in the Senate since 2021 and, prior to that, was the U.S. Representative for New Mexico’s Third Congressional District since 2009.