Amending the United States’ Federal Laws on Child Labor in Agriculture - Is a Bushel of Wheat Worth One’s Childhood?

Sep 23, 2026

Uploaded by Jiven

The paper examines whether the U.S. Department of Labor’s Child Labor Provisions for Agricultural Occupations Under the Fair Labor Standards (CLPAO) should be amended to impose tighter limits on children working on agricultural farms. It reviews how current age and working-hour restrictions are too lenient, leading to occupational injuries and health harms. The analysis highlights the risks of early exposure to pesticides, physical strain, and hazardous tools. It also addresses arguments that early farm work preserves farming culture, weighing benefits against the legal and health limitations of existing rules.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Age Restrictions: The Health Implications of Being Too Young

Working-Hour Restrictions (Proposed Focus)

Counterarguments: Farming Culture and Family Continuity

Amending the United States’ Federal Laws on Child Labor in Agriculture: Is a Bushel of Wheat Worth One’s Childhood? Introduction Before the mid twentieth century, children were sometimes viewed as assets rather than as family. Thus, children of farmers began “weeding, digging, and carrying when very little” as they provided valuable help on the farm (Davis 267) . When I came across this mindset in William Davis’“Chapter XVI: The Life of the Peasant,” from Life on a Medieval Barony, I wondered whether this attitude still exists on farms today. After research, I discovered that it does – even in developed countries such as the United States. In fact, according to the Human Rights Watch, in 2012 not only were two thirds ofthe children who died from occupational injuries in the US working on farms, but farming also caused more than 1,800 nonfatal injuries across the country ("US: Child...”) . Although the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Child Labor Provisions for Agricultural Occupations Under the Fair Labor Standards (CLPAO) aims to protect these children by setting restrictions on their tasks and employment hours, these constraints are very lenient, especially in comparison to the Child Labor Provisions for Nonagricultural Occupations Under the Fair Labor Standards (CLPNO) . Thus, these restrictions fail to have the desired effect. However, according to a Press Release from the DOL, even in 2011 when Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis proposed to toughen the CLPAO, her amendment was met with anger. When Solis proposed to prohibit farm workers under 16 from working on tobacco farms, operating most power driven tools and performing dangerous tasks like working in grain elevators and livestock exchanges (U. S. Department), groups like the Farm Bureau protested. They pointed out that the urbanized government had no place intervening in rural culture. One opponent even stated,“the federal government is out of touch with farmers and farm life”(Heiberger 352) . As a result, the USDOL withdrew the amendment in April 2012 (Jamieson) . This controversy over the United States’ youth agricultural laws informed this paper’s research question: whether the CLPAO should be amended to put tighter restrictions on children working on agricultural farms in the United States. Specifically, this paper focuses on two aspects of the issue: the implications of the age restrictions and the working hour restrictions currently stipulated by the CLPAO. Ultimately, after exploring both the benefits and limitations of amending the CLPAO, this paper argues that these sections should be amended to be similar to the Child Labor Provisions for Nonagricultural Occupations. Out of the scope of the paper, however, are children working on farms owned by their parents. Since participating in family businesses is the norm in many other industries, it is also appropriate forchildren born into farming families. Age Restrictions: The Health Implications of Being Too Young Currently on farms in the US, if a child has a waiver from the Secretary of Labor they can work from age 10; if they have parental consent they can work from age 12, and from age 14 they can work without any restrictions (United States...Agricultural) . Allowing children to work on farms from such a young age, however, severely harms their health. First, young children are disproportionately affected by the use of pesticides. According to areport prepared for the World Health Organization, Childhood Pesticide Poisoning, this is due to their“smaller size; greater rates of exposure to food, soil, water, and air; differing metabolism; and rapidly growing and developing organ systems”(Goldmann) . Second, since adolescent children are still developing physically, their bodies are more vulnerable to the harsh conditions of farming that include bending over for extended periods of time and carrying very heavy items. A 2007 report published by the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs (AFOP),

FAQs

What central question does the paper investigate about child labor in agriculture?

Whether the CLPAO should be amended to impose tighter restrictions on children working on agricultural farms in the United States.

How do current age rules on U.S. farms affect children’s health?

The paper argues that allowing children to work from very young ages increases exposure to hazards, including pesticides and physical strain, which can cause long-term harm.

Why does the paper say the CLPAO age-based permissions for hazardous tools are problematic?

It cites evidence that a significant portion of farm-injured children under 16 (and 16–17) were performing activities considered hazardous, indicating they are not mature enough for such tasks.

Sep 23, 2026

Uploaded by Jiven