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The Iowa state legislature has passed a Republican proposal to allow children as young as 14 to work in meat coolers and roll back a number of other child labor protections as conservatives across the country work to enroll more children into the workforce.
The bill, S.F. 542, was passed by the state Senate on Wednesday, largely along party lines. It is now in the hands of Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who has pledged to sign the bill into law.
In addition to allowing children as young as 14 to work in industrial laundry and meat coolers, the bill would expand the amount of hours that 14- and 15-year-olds can work during the school year from four to six hours a day, and allow 16- and 17-year-olds to work the same hours as adults.
The bill also creates a committee to explore the idea of allowing a special permit for children as young as 14 to drive themselves to work, lowering the age a child is allowed to drive by themselves from 16.
Labor advocates and Democrats have reacted to the bill with horror, saying that it will hamper children’s educational development while potentially putting children’s lives at risk in dangerous physical occupations.
S.F. 542 is “the most anti-child, anti-family bill that I’ve seen” in the child labor realm, Debbie Berkowitz, a fellow for Georgetown University’s Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor...
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