Editorial: Bid to loosen Missouri’s child-labor law would help businesses — but not kids

Child Labor Laws in Missouri: A Threat to Sustainable Development Goals

Introduction

There are legislative ideas that are ill-advised, unwise, or just plain bad. Then there are those that are positively Dickensian.

The Current Situation

In the latter category is the latest effort in the Missouri Legislature to roll back child-labor laws for the sake of businesses seeking cheap and plentiful workers. Missouri currently requires that 14- and 15-year-olds who want to work must get a work certificate issued by their schools, as well as parental consent. As part of the certification process, the employer must provide information about specific duties and hours.

The Proposed Legislation

A Republican-sponsored House bill (HB1795) would eliminate that certification process, taking schools out of the loop completely.

Historical Context

It has been close to a century since America came to its collective senses regarding child labor, previously a common scourge in the workforce. Child-labor reforms, which arose in tandem with the broader labor movement of the early 20th century, included a raft of state labor laws and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

The Impact on Sustainable Development Goals

The reform measures recognized that children needed special protections from unscrupulous employers — and, yes, even from financially desperate parents — to ensure they weren’t being trapped into working drudgery that shouldn’t be part of anyone’s childhood memories.

In an alarming trend in recent years, though, business interests and their elected Republican patrons have been moving to roll back that historic reform. According to the Economic Policy Institute, about a dozen states have loosened their child-labor laws since 2021. Another dozen, including Missouri, are currently pushing legislation to do so.

It’s primarily a red-state phenomenon, and the fact that it’s happening in the wake of the 2020 pandemic is no coincidence. That upheaval to the workforce has spurred continuing worker shortages that makes the prospect of hiring low-paid teens especially enticing to employers.

That’s not just our assessment of the motivation behind these laws; it’s the stated goal of the proponents. “Part of this is to help businesses be able to have more of a workforce,” James Harris, a lobbyist associated with a conservative effort to loosen child-labor laws nationwide, said during hearings this year, according to the Missouri Independent.

Economic Implications

Generally speaking, a tight labor market like today’s is a sign of a healthy economy; it means the nation is near full employment. That should, by the standard principles of economics, cause wages to rise as employers compete to attract and retain employees. Unless, of course, those employers can find an alternate, cheaper source of labor so they don’t have to hike wages.

Have we mentioned that the Missouri Grocers Association, the Missouri Retailers Association, and the Missouri Chamber of Commerce are among key backers of the current legislation?

The Role of Schools

Bill sponsor Rep. Dave Hinman, R-O’Fallon, told the Independent that it’s “better that the parents make that decision” to let kids work “instead of schools being the ones that sign off on it.” That’s a deeply misleading rationale, because parents already have to sign off when kids younger than 16 work. The legislation doesn’t change that, it just takes school officials out of the process. Those officials are in a better position than anyone to notice if work starts affecting a kid’s academics. But under this legislation, they won’t even know which students are working.

Conclusion

If the proposed legislation is passed, it would pose a threat to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations. The SDGs aim to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all, promote decent work and economic growth, and protect the rights of children. By rolling back child-labor laws, Missouri would be undermining these goals and putting the well-being of its young population at risk.

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators Analysis

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 4: Quality Education
• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

The article discusses the issue of child labor and the proposed legislation to roll back child-labor laws in Missouri. This connects to SDG 4, which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all. Child-labor laws are designed to protect children’s rights and ensure they have access to education instead of being forced into work. The article also highlights the economic motivations behind the proposed legislation, which relates to SDG 8 on decent work and economic growth. Lastly, the article mentions the trend of loosening child-labor laws in several states, which touches upon SDG 10 on reducing inequalities.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• Target 4.4: By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs, and entrepreneurship.
• Target 8.7: Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labor, end modern slavery and human trafficking, and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labor.
• Target 10.7: Facilitate orderly, safe, regular, and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies.

Based on the article’s content, the specific targets that can be identified are related to ensuring relevant skills for employment (Target 4.4), eradicating child labor (Target 8.7), and promoting safe and orderly migration (Target 10.7).

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• Indicator 4.4.1: Proportion of youth and adults with information and communications technology (ICT) skills, by type of skill.
• Indicator 8.7.1: Number of victims of forced labor per 1,000 persons.
• Indicator 10.7.1: Recruitment cost borne by employee as a proportion of yearly income earned in country of destination.

While the article does not explicitly mention indicators, the identified targets can be measured using the indicators mentioned above. These indicators provide a quantitative way to assess progress towards the targets.

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators Table

Copyright: Dive into this article, curated with care by SDG Investors Inc. Our advanced AI technology searches through vast amounts of data to spotlight how we are all moving forward with the Sustainable Development Goals. While we own the rights to this content, we invite you to share it to help spread knowledge and spark action on the SDGs.

Fuente: stltoday.com

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