Wisconsin Seeing an Increase in Child Labor Complaints

Tuesday, March 7th, 2023 -- 10:00 AM

(By Joe Schulz, Wisconsin Public Radio) State officials say Wisconsin has seen an upward trend in child labor complaints since 2018, while the U.S. Labor Department says its seen a 69 percent increase in cases of children being illegally employed during the same period.

According to Joe Schulz with Wisconsin Public Radio, the federal government is currently investigating over 600 cases of possible child labor exploitation. In the last fiscal year alone, the Department of Labor identified 835 companies operating in violation of child labor laws affecting 3,800 children, and saw a 26 percent increase in minors employed in hazardous occupations.

Violations can vary from children working more hours than allowed under law, to working with prohibited equipment or working in industries that they shouldn’t be. Federal officials last week announced new efforts to combat the rise in child labor exploitation through a partnership between the U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. They also called on Congress to increase financial penalties for child labor violations and to boost funding for enforcement of child labor laws.

The announcement came after the Department of Labor resolved one of the largest child labor cases in the department's history following an investigation of Wisconsin-based Packers Sanitation Services Inc., and after The New York Times published an investigation into the widespread exploitation of migrant children in dangerous jobs that violate child labor laws.

"This is not a 19th century problem, this is a today problem," U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh said in a statement. "We need Congress to come to the table, we need states to come to the table. This is a problem that will take all of us to stop."

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