How many 14 year olds getting a job even find a sawmill or a mine to apply to in the US?
Concerns over child labor when working at McDonalds or Walmart is one thing, but it's a real stretch to go straight to 14 year olds dying in sawmill accidents.
Concerns over child labor when working at McDonalds or Walmart is one thing, but it's a real stretch to go straight to 14 year olds dying in sawmill accidents.
I have a hard time believing many children are dying in this way in the US today but I'm happy to be wrong and learn something new if there is real data there.
Actually, that report includes a few examples of children killed on the job. Like a 16 year old who died while working in construction, he fell about 160 feet to the ground after trying to jump from a roof to a nearby powered lift. In Nashville. [2] (same link as [1])
It also details the rise in children being employed to do hazardous labor.
Killed in sawmills is a bit of hyperbole, but it's not far off from the truth it seems.
I did dig and found another news article about the anecdote included.
https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville-family-advoca...
It looks like there is a discrepancy between State and Federal law, so the employers may indeed be acting in a twisted version of good faith. Despite the fact that Federal law supersedes state law. [2] https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/all-things-work/child...
I'm not implying regulations are the fix, I just think it's a little fucked up.