Illegal child labor on rise in tight U.S. job market: CNN

NEW YORK, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Child labor violations in the United States have increased in recent years, while "some well-known companies and consumer-facing name brands" have been caught employing children for dangerous and exhausting work, CNN reported Sunday.

"A tight labor market has prompted many employers to search for the cheapest available labor; state legislators are even pushing bills that would limit legal protections for underage workers," said the report.

At 16 McDonald's franchise locations in Louisiana and Texas, children as young as 14 operated "dangerous equipment and worked long and late hours," the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) said in late July. In May, the department found two 10-year-olds working without pay until as late as 2 a.m. at a McDonald's restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky, according to a DOL release.

Between Oct. 1, 2022, and July 20, the DOL concluded 765 child labor cases, found 4,474 children employed in violation of federal child labor laws, and assessed more than 6.6 million U.S. dollars in penalties against employers.

That's a 44 percent increase in the number of children illegally employed and an 87 percent increase in penalties compared to the same period the year before, according to the department.