A new law has been introduced in some Midwestern states that would loosen child labor laws.
Legislators in Iowa and Minnesota are proposing a bill that would allow 14-year-olds to work until 9 p.m. on weeknights and until 11 p.m. during the summer every night of the week. Jerome Katz, a professor at the Chaifetz School of Business, told KMOX what that would look like.
"They're talking about letting 15-year-olds carry 50 pound bags of product, and even work in freezers and coolers in meatpacking plants; 16- and 17-year-olds could work on construction," he said. "One thing that they're doing that would be tremendously attractive to a lot of teenagers is that they also included a provision to let 14-and-a-half-year-olds get a special driver's license."
Katz said the legislation comes out of a desperation for workers — and a desire to pay workers less.
"The kids will be paid a lot less than regular workers will, and so that staves off that cost. The problem is, we know from both in the US and overseas, the kids most likely to be in those situations come from the poorest families," he said. "And they have the fewest supports for education. And this is just going to make it even harder for them to get a good basic education and get the training necessary for better jobs."
Katz talked with KMOX about more business news, including inflation and the NBA coming back to NBC. Listen to his full interview on Total Information AM:
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