John,

With child labor violations on the rise, the Department of Labor is cracking down.

During the Biden administration, the DOL has implemented new enforcement strategies to protect children’s rights and has doubled fines on corporations found to be exploiting children in the workplace.¹ But with the House Appropriations Committee releasing bills this week that do not provide critically needed funding, negatively impacting the DOL’s enforcement capabilities, we’re fighting back.

Already, we’ve sent nearly 20,000 messages directly to members of Congress demanding they reject caps and cuts that would limit the Department of Labor’s ability to protect children from labor exploitation.

At least 10 states have already introduced or passed laws rolling back child labor protections, but if federal enforcement of child labor laws is stronger, it prevails. The DOL needs enough funding to enforce federal child labor law, or thousands of children will continue to be exploited by greedy corporations each year.²

Rush a donation now and power our efforts to demand Congress reject funding cuts to the Department of Labor that would impact the DOL’s ability to protect children from labor exploitation.

Last year, the DOL found 955 violations of child labor laws involving almost 5,800 children.³ And between 2019 and 2023, the Economic Policy Institute reports that child labor violations increased by 88%.⁴

The exploitation of children in the workforce overwhelmingly impacts children of color, immigrant children, and children in low-wage-earning families―putting children in danger and exacerbating racial and income inequality.

Donate today to fight for critical funding to help the DOL crack down on child labor violations and protect children from labor exploitation.

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We will not allow the United States to go back to a time before 1938, before the passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act, where children are sent to work in dangerous jobs from mining to meat packing.

Thank you for your support

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs

¹ Child Labor Coalition lauds Wage and Hour’s child labor enforcement strategies that includes creating a fund for victims and use of “hot goods” provisions
² America is divided over major efforts to rewrite child labor laws
³ THE EXPANDING SCOURGE OF CHILD EXPLOITATION IN THE U.S. WORKFORCE
⁴ Policies for states and localities to fight oppressive child labor