Aunt Lydia Signs Bill Gutting Arkansas Child Labor Laws

CBS News reports:

Arkansas is rolling back some child labor protections after Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a new law to make it easier for children under 16 to get hired. The new law is part of a push by some states to loosen child labor rules at a time the job market remains tight, with the lowest jobless rate since 1969.

The Arkansas law, called the Youth Hiring Act, eliminates a requirement that children under 16 obtain an employment certificate before getting hired — a document that proves the child’s age, describes the work they will undertake, and gives written consent from the child’s parent or guardian.

The rollback comes less than a month after the Department of Labor fined a company for employing children as young as 13 to clean “razor-sharp saws” with “caustic chemicals,” including at two Arkansas meat-packing plants.

Read the full article. Critics say the bill puts children at greater risk of human trafficking.