Will the U.S. see rollbacks to child labor laws under the
The Florida Legislature has filed two bills that would erode existing child labor laws: Both bills would allow employers to schedule all 16 and 17-year-olds, as well as any 14 and 15-year-olds who have graduated from high school or are virtual students, for unlimited hours and days without breaks. Just last year, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis tried to push a proposal that would allow homeschooled and virtual students to be exempt from time regulations when they turn 16.
"Child labor is the canary in the coal mine," says Ann Olivarius, veteran civil rights attorney and senior partner at McAllister Olivarius. "There is no world in which legislatures strip child workers of their rights, but other rights and protections are steadfastly maintained for adults."
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Olivarius stresses that child workers are uniquely vulnerable to exploitation. Since adults inherently hold a position of authority over children on a legal and social level, child workers are less likely to be able to advocate for themselves — and even less likely to know their rights in the workplace.
"A child won't know how to identify sexual harassment by a co-worker or manager as well as an adult would," says Olivarius. "They'll also struggle more to lodge a complaint. They'll be disbelieved to a higher degree, and this goes for racism or any other violation of civil law."
It's no coincidence that Florida is pushing these bills as the Trump administration's anti-immigration efforts ramp up. In March, during an immigration forum with the current border czar, DeSantis himself stated that undocumented workers provide "dirt cheap labor" before saying, "Why do we say we need to import foreigners, even import them illegally, when you know, teenagers used to work at these resorts, college students should be able to do this stuff."
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According to the American Immigration Council, immigrants account for 27.4% of Florida's labor force. Nearly half of those workers are in the agriculture industry, and around 27% are in construction and transportation and warehousing. The gaps children workers would be filling are not likely summer jobs at a resort or water parks, says Olivarius.
"This is the kind of back-breaking, unrelenting work that will force kids out of school — it's going to deprive them of an education and make the rest of their lives harder and poorer," she says. "[DeSantis] wants to replace one vulnerable, abused group of workers with another vulnerable group."
The bottom line: Children are easier to take advantage of physically, legally and financially, lowering the bar for what wages and protections employers need to provide to maintain a workforce. This means adult workers will be competing with an exploited labor force; it won't take long for their rights in the workplace to come under threat.
It's not lost on Olivarius that these laws are also popping up at a time of economic uncertainty, as Trump tariffs threaten to drag the U.S. into a full-blown recession.
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"The kids who will be working overnight shifts on school nights will tend to have families who rely on their income," she says. "These will be kids from underresourced backgrounds, people who are desperate."
While these Florida bills have yet to officially pass, Olivarius urges employers to consider the consequences of hiring children as young as 14 — beyond just short-term profit. Replacing skilled immigrant work with child labor is not a long-term solution, and Florida's economy will feel the loss that comes with lower education and health rates state-wide.
"Child employment legislation is meant to shield children's health, workplace welfare and education," says Olivarius. "You have the power not to hire child labor. These kids need to be protected. That's what we should be doing as a society."
