Tag Archive for: CARE Act

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Child Labor Coalition Applauds Introduction of the CARE Act of 2025 on Universal Children’s Day

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Washington, DC — Today, on World Children’s Day, Representative Raul Ruiz (CA-25) reintroduced the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment and Farm Safety (CARE Act) in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Child Labor Coalition (CLC) strongly supports this essential legislation, which modernizes outdated federal child labor laws and extends long-overdue protections to child farmworkers—among the nation’s most vulnerable laborers. 

“Our nation has a moral duty to protect every working child,” said Reid Maki, Director of Child Labor Advocacy and Coordinator of the CLC. “Farmworkers remain among the most exploited and unprotected workers in America. Children deserve safe working conditions and the same rights afforded to young workers in every other industry. Updating these antiquated laws is long overdue.” 

The CARE Act closes loopholes that have long allowed children in agriculture to perform hazardous work at age 16—an age two years younger than what is required in all other sectors. It raises the minimum age for children to work on farms from 12 to 14, and it makes these critical changes while preserving long-standing family farm traditions by ensuring that new protections do not restrict children working on their parents’ farms. 

Maki emphasized the deep historical harm caused by these outdated rules:
“It’s astonishing that discriminatory loopholes allowing very young children to work 70- or 80-hour weeks in dangerous conditions have existed since the 1930s. These exemptions undermine children’s education and put their health at serious risk.” 

The CARE Act of 2025 marks a critical step toward safety, equity, and dignity for child farmworkers. The Child Labor Coalition urges Congress to act swiftly to pass this legislation and ensure that every child in America is protected—no matter where they live or work.  

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)      

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.   

 

Child Labor Coalition welcomes the Senate Introduction of the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment and Farm Safety Act of 2024 (CARE Act)

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Press Release

March 25, 2024

Media contact: National Consumers League – Reid Maki, reidm@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2820

 

Washington, DC – With the beginning of Farmworker Awareness Week today, the Child Labor Coalition (CLC), representing 37 groups engaged in the fight against domestic and global child labor, applauds Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) and for introducing the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment and Farm Safety (CARE). The legislation, introduced on March 21, would close long-standing loopholes that permit children in agriculture to work for wages when they are only 12 and 13—younger than other teens can work. The bill would also ban jobs on farms labeled “hazardous” by the U.S. Department of Labor if workers are under the age of 18. Current U.S. law allows children to perform hazardous work at age 16.

“With their whole future ahead of them, our country must do better protecting children working in the agriculture industry,” said Senator Luján. “Across the country, thousands of children are working under hazardous conditions in the agriculture sector, risking their health and education. I’m introducing the CARE Act to raise the floor and bring our agricultural labor lines in with other industries to better protect children and improve the working conditions they operate in.”

“It’s amazing to us that discriminatory loopholes, which allow very young kids to work 70- and 80-hours a week, performing back-breaking labor on farms, have been allowed to exist since the 1930s,” said Reid Maki, Director of Child Labor Advocacy for the National Consumers League and the Child Labor Coalition. “The impact of the exemptions on farmworker children educationally is harmful and their health is at significant risk on farms.”

“We’re grateful for Senator Luján’s tremendous leadership on this issue.” said the CLC’s Chair Sally Greenberg, also the CEO of the National Consumers League. “It’s been 22 years since we’ve had a Senate bill that would fix our weak child labor laws that discriminate against farmworker children and leave them unprotected from farm dangers. This day was long overdue. We applaud Senator Lujan for taking action to protect child farmworkers.

“Growing up as a migrant farmworker child, I saw first-hand the detrimental consequences of our inequitable child labor laws,” says Norma Flores López, Chair of the Child Labor Coalition’s Domestic Issues Committee. “Working 70 hours a week, performing back-breaking work did not prepare me for a career in agriculture. Rather, it robbed me of my childhood and my health. Working children must be protected from dangerous work that is not age-appropriate, and the CARE Act provides this critical change in our labor laws.”

In the House, Rep. Raul Ruiz introduced a version of the CARE Act, H.R. 4046, earlier in the congressional session; it has 45 cosponsors.

The Senate bill, which does not have a number yet, has been endorsed by 46 organizations, including the AFL-CIO, the Economic Policy Institute, the UFW, Farmworker Justice, the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and the National Farm Medicine Center. The House version has been endorsed by 200 national, regional, and state-based organizations, noted Maki.

“The US will not fix the country’s child labor problem until Congress provides children working in agriculture with the same protections as all other working children. Congress should pass this bill without delay to protect children from dangerous work that harms their health and development,” said Jo Becker, children’s rights advocacy director, Human Rights Watch.

In addition to raising the minimum age at which children could work in agriculture, CARE would significantly increase minimum fines for employers who violate agricultural child labor laws; the bill would also establish minimum fines for the first time. The legislation would also codify a ban on children applying pesticides and increase data collection and analysis of child farmworker injuries.

The children of farm owners working on their parents’ farms would not be covered by the protections of the CARE Act—this aligns with the wishes of organized farmer groups.

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Press Release: Rep. Roybal-Allard, 24 Cosponsors Reintroduce CARE Act to Strengthen Protections for Child Farmworkers

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[Released by Rep. Roybal-Allard]

June 20, 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT

Ben Soskin

(202) 225-1766

Benjamin.Soskin@mail.house.gov

Rep. Roybal-Allard, 24 Cosponsors Reintroduce CARE Act to Strengthen Protections for Child Farmworkers

Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-40) led the reintroduction of her Children’s Act for Responsible Employment and Farm Safety (CARE), which raises labor standards and protections for farm worker children to the same level set for children in all other occupations.  The congresswoman announced the CARE Act’s reintroduction at a press event in the U.S. Capitol alongside advocates including Mónica Ramírez, the president of Justice for Migrant Women; Norma López, the chair of the Domestic Issues Committee for the Child Labor Coalition; and Brenda Alvarez-Lagunas, a former child farmworker who recently made national news for her valedictorian speech at her high school graduation.  Congresswoman Roybal-Allard reintroduced today’s bill with 24 House cosponsors.

 “America is morally obligated to protect the rights, safety, and future of every child in our nation,” said Congresswoman Roybal-Allard.  “Sadly, our child agricultural workers do not enjoy these protections.  They currently face a double standard that lets them work at younger ages, for longer hours, and in more hazardous conditions than child workers in any other industry.  If we value our youth, if we support fair and decent treatment for all children, then we must pass the CARE Act and finally ensure fundamental protections for America’s child farmworkers.”

“Farmworker children pay the price for the inexpensive fruits and vegetables our nation consumes with their battered bodies, lost educational opportunities, and broken dreams because they are forced to work just to make ends meet for their families,” said Ms. Ramírez.  “The CARE Act seeks to put farmworker children on equal footing with other children by placing necessary restrictions on their ability to work in one of the most dangerous jobs in the US.”

“Today in America, as many as 500,000 children are performing back-breaking and often dangerous work on farms across the country with few protections, no safety training or equipment, and for very low wages,” said Ms. López.  “They are sacrificing their childhood, their education, and their health to help put food on their family’s table; yet the most they earn in a year is $2000.  America’s future is worth so much more.  It is time to end the double-standard farmworker children face and extend equal protections to all of America’s children.  It is time to pass the CARE Act.”

“I was in the fields as young as seven years old with continued exposure to harmful chemicals,” said Ms. Alvarez-Lagunas.  “I was working under the sun for hours at a time – this is why I am grateful for Roybal-Allard’s CARE Act.  It will help protect children from harmful conditions.”

“Why must we rely on children to harvest fruits and vegetables in America?,” said Reid Maki, Director of Child Labor Advocacy of the National Consumers League and Coordinator of the Child Labor Coalition.  “Why must Latino children bear the brunt of unjust laws?  The child labor exemptions in U.S. labor law constitute a de facto form of discrimination and why allow young children to work in what is the most dangerous industry?  These loopholes have been around since the enactment of the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938.  Isn’t it time to protect all our children equally?”

Under current law, children in agriculture are allowed to work at younger ages and for longer hours than those working in other sectors.  Children as young as 12 can work with virtually no restrictions on the number of hours they spend in the fields outside of the school day.  Furthermore, children performing hazardous agricultural work can be as young as 16, while hazardous non-agricultural work is reserved for adults.  With the majority of work-related fatalities for children occurring in the agriculture sector, and past findings that child agricultural workers drop out of school at four times the national dropout rate, it is imperative for Congress to take action to protect these child workers.

Key provisions of the CARE bill:

While retaining current exemptions for family farms and educational programs like 4-H and Future Farmers of America, the CARE Act:

  • Brings age and work hour standards for children in agriculture up to the standards for children working in all other industries:
  Existing Law for Agricultural Employment Existing Law for Non-Agricultural Employment CARE Act provisions
Non-Hazardous Job, Age 12-13 Can work outside of school hours with parental consent. Prohibited. Prohibited.
Non-Hazardous Job, Age 14-15 Can work outside of school hours without any restrictions on number of hours per day or per week. Can work outside of school hours.  Cannot work before 7 a.m. or after 7 p.m. or for more than 3 hours on a school day or more than 18 in a school week. Imposes the same hour restrictions in place for non-agricultural workers on agricultural workers.
Hazardous, Age 16-17 Minimum age is 16 for hazardous jobs. Prohibited until age 18. Prohibited until age 18.
  • Establishes a minimum penalty for child labor violations;
  • Increases the maximum civil monetary penalties and maximum criminal penalties for child labor violations;
  • Provides children with greater protections against pesticide exposure in agriculture by raising the labor protections to EPA standards.
  • Includes reporting requirements on work-related injuries and serious illness.

The CARE Act’s original cosponsors include Congressmembers Nanette Diaz Barragán (CA-44), Karen Bass (CA-37), Tony Cárdenas (CA-29), David Cicilline (RI-01), Yvette Clarke (NY-09), Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), Ruben Gallego (AZ-07), Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18), Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), Barbara Lee (CA-13), Andy Levin (MI-09), Alan S. Lowenthal (CA-47), Stephen F. Lynch (MA-08), James P. McGovern (MA-02), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Grace F. Napolitano (CA-32), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (MP), Janice D. Schakowsky (IL-09), Adam B. Schiff (CA-28), José E. Serrano (NY-15), Albio Sires (NJ-08), and Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24).

 

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CARE Act’s 24 Co-sponsors in the 116th Congress

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The Children’s Act for Responsible Employment and Farm Safety was introduced by Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard on June 20, 2019 with 24 original cosponsors (bold). For the goals of the CARE Act, click here.

 

Nanette Diaz Barragán (CA-44)

Karen Bass (CA-37)

Tony Cárdenas (CA-29)

David Cicilline (RI-01)

Yvette Clarke (NY-09)

Rosa DeLauro (CT-03)

Ruben Gallego (AZ-07)

Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18)

Marcy Kaptur (OH-09)

Barbara Lee (CA-13)

Andy Levin (MI-09)

Alan S. Lowenthal (CA-47)

Stephen F. Lynch (MA-08)

James P. McGovern (MA-02)

Gwen Moore (WI-04)

Grace F. Napolitano (CA-32)

Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC)

Mark Pocan (WI-02)

Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (MP)

Janice D. Schakowsky (IL-09)

Adam B. Schiff (CA-28)

José E. Serrano (NY-15)

Albio Sires (NJ-08)

Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24)

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CLC News Release: Legislation to Protect Child Farmworkers in the US is Re-Introduced

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CHILD LABOR COALITION PRESS RELEASE
Child Labor Coalition applauds the introduction of two congressional bills to reduce dangerous child labor in U.S. agriculture

For immediate release: June 13, 2017
Contact: Reid Maki, (202) 207-2820, reidm@nclnet.org

Washington, DC—The Child Labor Coalition (CLC) and its 35 members applaud the re-introduction late yesterday of two congressional bills that would significantly reduce child labor in U.S. agriculture and largely equalize child labor laws for wage-earning children on farms with current rules for non-farm work.

In the U.S., many teens who work in tobacco fields wear plastic garbage bags to try to avoid nicotine poisoning. [Photo courtesy Human Rights Watch]

In the U.S., many teens who work in tobacco fields wear plastic garbage bags to try to avoid nicotine poisoning. [Photo courtesy Human Rights Watch]

In the House of Representatives, Rep. Roybal-Allard (D-CA) re-introduced the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment (CARE), which would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act, removing the exemptions that prevent the nation’s child labor laws from applying to children who work for wages on farms.

“A 12-year-old is not allowed to work in our air-conditioned office,” said Sally Greenberg, executive director of the National Consumers League and a co-chair of the CLC. “Yet, that same child is allowed to work unlimited hours, seven days a week on a farm, performing back-breaking work.”

CARE would also raise the age at which children laboring on farms can perform hazardous work from 16 to 18, which is the norm for all non-farm work. “We lose far too many children to work accidents on farms,” said CLC Coordinator Reid Maki. “This change is long overdue.”

“Child farmworkers work at far younger ages, for longer hours, and under more hazardous conditions than children are allowed to work in any other industry. It’s time to end this double standard in U.S. law and ensure they have the same protections as other working youth,” said CLC-member Jo Becker, children’s rights advocacy director for Human Rights Watch.

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Needed: A Champion for Children

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By Len Morris

Len Morris of Media Voices for Children

Len Morris of Media Voices for Children

If we are to have a government worthy of the America Jimmy Stewart described in his famous role as Senator Jefferson Smith, we’ll need champions in government that will protect those who are the weakest and most vulnerable among us – our children.

Today, hundreds of thousands of children work in America’s fields doing dangerous, unhealthy and adult work from sunrise to sunset…many under 14 years of age. They need a champion, one senator out of a hundred, who will step forward to protect them by introducing a law outlawing child labor in America’s fields, revising and repealing a law that’s been on the books since 1939, when America was a different place and American farms were small family affairs, not the corporate agribusiness of today.

The invisible children in our fields are victims of greed, racism and violated human liberties.

Greed is the driver, enabling companies to make huge profits at the expense of children’s health. Under current US law, child tobacco workers can be and are exposed to nicotine poisoning and the carcinogens of deadly pesticides. These kids’ human rights are violated with little notice or political consequence.

Yesenia, age 12, harvesting onions in South Texas (Photo courtesy of Robin Romano)

Yesenia, age 12, harvesting onions in South Texas (Photo courtesy of Robin Romano)

Meanwhile, politicians look the other way and pretend it’s not happening as they collect campaign contributions from those same companies. Senators and Representatives have somehow lost their voice when the constituent is a child who cannot vote.

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Child Labor Coalition Press Release: The CLC Welcomes the Reintroduction of the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment (CARE Act)

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For immediate release: June 17, 2013
Contact: Reid Maki, (202) 207-2820, reidm@nclnet.org

Washington, D.C.—The Child Labor Coalition (CLC) applauds Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) for introducing the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment (CARE), H.R. 2342, on World Day Against Child Labor, June 12th. The legislation would close loopholes that permit children in agriculture to work for wages when they are only age 12 or 13–and sometimes even younger. The bill would also limit hazardous work on farms by workers under the age of 18.

“Agriculture is the only industry governed by labor laws that allow children as young as 12 to work with virtually no restrictions on the number of hours they spend in the fields outside of the school day,” Rep. Roybal-Allard said in a press release this week.  “We need this legislation because we know that agriculture is one of this country’s most dangerous occupations.”

“Children working for wages on farms are exposed to many hazards—farm machinery, heat stroke, and pesticides among them—and they perform back-breaking labor that no child should have to experience,” said CLC co-chair Sally Greenberg, the executive director of the National Consumers League, a consumer advocacy organization that has worked to eliminate abusive child labor since its founding in 1899. “Child farmworkers deserve the same protections that all other American kids enjoy. We applaud Rep. Roybal-Allard’s leadership in introducing CARE.”

AFT Secretary-Treasurer and CLC Co-Chair Lorretta Johnson added that child labor and migration have a profound impact on the education of child farmworkers. “Fifty percent of children who regularly work on farms will not graduate from high school. That is unacceptable,” said Johnson. “Until all children, regardless of where they are born, have the same opportunity to receive an education, we will continue advocating and fighting on their behalf.

“In the U.S., approximately 400,000 children are picking the very fruits and vegetables we eat today for low pay and with few protections,” said Norma Flores López, Director of the Children in the Fields Campaign at the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs (AFOP) and Chair of the CLC Domestic Issues Committee. “Through the protections offered by the CARE Act, we will ensure that farmworker children can break the cycle of poverty by providing them with healthy, happy childhoods.”

“For too long, children laboring in U.S. agriculture have been denied the protections they deserve to ensure their health and well-being. Too often, kids working on commercial farms are subjected to dangerous, unhealthy, work that’s detrimental to their education and far too often results in harm or even death. The CARE Act would address this problem and give children working on farms the same protections as children working in other industries,” said Bruce Lesley, president of the First Focus Campaign for Children, a bipartisan children’s advocacy organization.

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CARE Act Reintroduced–Would Equalize Protections for Children Who Work in U.S. Agriculture

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Child Labor Coalition Press Release

More progress needed to reduce child labor; Urgent action required on Uzbekistan, Domestic Workers Convention, and U.S. farmworker children

For release: June 10, 2011

Contact: NCL Communications, (202) 835-3323, media@nclnet.org

Washington, DC—As World Day Against Child Labor on June 12 approaches, the Child Labor Coalition (CLC) is alerting the public that more than 200 million children still toil around the world, often in dangerous jobs that threaten their health, safety, and education.

Here in the United States, the CLC is applauding the anticipated re-introduction of the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment (CARE), which Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) plans to sponsor once again next week. The legislation [H.R. 2234] would close loopholes that permit the children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers to work for wages when they are only 12 and 13 years old, often in harsh conditions—10- to 12-hour days of bending over and performing repetitive tasks in 90- to 100-degree heat.

“It’s time to level the playing field by closing these loopholes, which go all the way back to 1938, when the Fair Labor Standards Act was introduced,” said CLC Co-Chair Sally Greenberg, the Executive Director of the National Consumers League, a consumer advocacy organization that has worked to eliminate abusive child labor since its founding in 1899. “We must offer these children the same protections that all other American kids enjoy.”

“Working migrant children pay a heavy price educationally for their labor,” said Antonia Cortese, a Co-Chair of the CLC  and the Secretary-Treasurer of the American Federation of Teachers, which represents 1.5 million public service employees. “Many farmworker children leave school before the school year ends and return after it begins. The constant travel and work wears many children out. They struggle to catch up academically, but for many it’s a losing battle—and more than half never graduate high school.”

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CARE Act Summary by First Focus Campaign for Children, May 2010

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