What is KSCF US
doing?
The Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation believes that no child should perform any work which interferes with their education, puts their safety and health at risk, or sees them attempt to combine school with long working hours. We oppose all forms of child labor, and we are committed to combating child labor anywhere in the world, including the United States, and the US agricultural sector.
At the Federal level
KSCF US is one of the coordinators of the national Campaign to End US Child Labor, alongside Global March Against Child Labour and the Child Labor Coalition. The campaign has more than 40 organizational and individual members, and together we are coordinating our advocacy efforts around a Shared Agenda of recommendations to legislators.
Independently, KSCF US focuses its organizational advocacy efforts on:
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Justice for all survivors and victims of child labor: we are advocating for survivors of child labor in the United States to receive financial compensation from employers, in addition to substantially increased monetary penalties for child labor violations. These proposals would act as strong deterrents, but importantly, they should also be a means to ensure justice for survivors and victims, wherever they were born.
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Ensuring increased budget for the Department of Labor enforcement teams to increase both their staffing and the number of investigations that can be conducted into potential violations of child labor laws. We believe that this should be accompanied by easily accessible means for teachers, social workers, and other support staff to report violations which have come to their notice through their day-to-day work with children who are in child labor.
In addition, KSCF US has endorsed the proposed Children’s Act for Responsible Employment and Farm Safety (CARE Act),which proposes to:
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bring the same age minimums into agriculture as those already in place for every other sector - 14 as the minimum age for any work, 18 as the minimum for hazardous work.
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limit the number of hours 14 and 15 year old children can work on school days
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prevent children from working before 7am or after 7pm.
KSCF US also supports the proposed Children Don't Belong on Tobacco Farms Act. This bill would ban the employment of all children where they would have direct contact with tobacco plants or dried tobacco leaves, making it a form of oppressive child labor.
KSCF US broadly welcomes the Biden administration’s 2023 proposals to tackle child labor, particularly for unaccompanied minors. These measures represent a strong first step towards the protection of unaccompanied refugee children and, should Congress approve an increase in budget for the Department of Labor’s enforcement teams, a good step to end child labor for every child in the United States.
At the State level
KSCF US is tracking states for any newly proposed legislation which aims to reduce child labor protections, either from the standards set by the FLSA or the standards already set within those states. We are also tracking the progress of the existing state bills and is taking part in advocacy efforts to prevent the reduction of child labor protections, including initiating or supporting joint letters and meetings with legislators.
KSCF US is also creating opportunities for campaign supporters to participate in actions targeting legislators, such as letter-writing campaigns. You can find these on our Take Action page.
We are also updating this site regularly with news from across the United States, including Department of Labor investigations and prosecutions, and national and local coverage on child labor issues.