Just when America needs stronger child labor protections, the Trump administration is seemingly abandoning enforcement altogether. A disturbing new analysis from Good Jobs First reveals that enforcement cases for a range of workplace violations declined by 97 percent last year. And a review by the Child Labor Coalition found just two press releases about child labor enforcement in the year since President Trump was inaugurated on January 20, 2025 — compared to two per month in the last two years under Biden.
This retreat comes at a perilous moment. According to the Economic Policy Institute, 28 states across the nation introduced bills to weaken child labor protections in recent years. This follows a 283 percent increase in child labor violations between 2015 and 2023, creating a perfect storm that leaves young workers dangerously exposed.
This isn’t bureaucratic negligence — it’s the systematic gutting of worker protections.
In spring 2025, the Trump administration identified 21 offices for closure within the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division — and is slashing staff at the agency responsible for enforcing federal child labor laws. Even before the current administration took office, there was just one inspector for every 202,000 workers.
As members of the House Committee on Education and Workforce warned the department last year, these cuts extend “an open invitation for employers to ignore workplace hazards, force miners to breathe toxic dust, staff children on overnight shifts at meatpacking plants or other dangerous jobsites, discriminate against workers, and steal workers’ wages without fear of any accountability.”
Federal enforcement sets a floor beneath which no state can fall. When that floor disappears, states can either strengthen their own enforcement with limited resources or allow violations to multiply unchecked. And unfortunately, that floor is dropping as several states have chosen to roll back their existing protections.
The consequences of weak enforcement are already visible in states like Iowa and California, where inadequate oversight has allowed dangerous child labor practices to flourish.
In Iowa, the legislature egregiously weakened child labor protections in 2023. An investigation by Common Good Iowa concluded that state investigators conducted only 77 child labor investigations in 2024, including one involving the death of a 17-year-old who was crushed by a utility vehicle while performing prohibited tasks without supervision.
Yet despite these cases, investigators issued just four civil monetary penalties totaling just $36,350 — a pittance that is unlikely to deter violations.
Meanwhile, states need to increase child labor protections, not gut them. Several states, both red and blue, passed laws strengthening child labor protections in recent years — including Illinois, Colorado, Minnesota, Oregon, Virginia, and Utah.
We need elected officials to build on this progress. Children nationwide deserve nothing less.
Todd Larsen is the Executive Co- Director of Green America. Reid Maki is the Coordinator of the Child Labor Coalition. This op-ed was distributed by OtherWords. org.