CURRENT TRENDS IN STATE CHILD LABOR LEGISLATION AND ENFORCEMENT

There is much current child labor law activity, none of it reflecting concern with occupational health hazards. The focus of the legislation is on time for and dedication to education as youth's foremost priority. The only areas of state legislative change that could affect children's health and safety in the workplace are a general movement toward monetarily increasing fines and penalties and some minor inclusions of agricultural restrictions on young workers. Enforcement efforts are in all cases a primary indication of state commitment to child labor law protections, and these efforts are decreasing.