INTRODUCTION: The Freechild Project believes that young people face a particularly unjust situation in many work environments and workplace situations.  Young people can earn income on their own without being allowed to open a bank account on their own; young people must pay taxes without the possibility of voting until they're 18; young people are routinely exploited by their employers, expected to work more erratic, less popular hours for less pay than equally or less-then equally experienced/skilled adults.

POINT TO PONDER: "The freedom and human capacities of individuals must be developed to their maximum but individual powers must be linked to democracy in the sense that social betterment must be the necessary consequence of individual flourishing." - Henry Giroux

RESOURCES: Youth working with The Freechild Project have identified the following organizations, websites, and publications can help young people learn about youth discrimination in the workplace, and find the tools to defeat ageism and alienation.

Websites

Young Workers' Health and Safety Website
Resource for teens, employers, parents, educators, and other youth and labor advocates (USA). It contains summaries of current California child labor laws, tips for educators and employers, frequently asked questions and their answers, and links to other helpful resources. The Web site is a project of California's statewide Resource Network for Young Worker Health and Safety.

International Labor Organization Youth Employment Information

At the start of the new century, youth employment problems continue to pervade both developed and developing countries, with a disproportionately large number of young women and men exposed to long-term unemployment or else limited to precarious or short-term work.

Youth, Work, and Unions

Includes facts, statistics, and information about youth labor in Canada. Includes a good rationale for youth unionizing.

Youth Unemployment Rates

Annual average percent of non-institutional youth, age 16-19, unemployed for 1998, from the "Geographic Profile of Employment and Unemployment", Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, last revised April 10, 2000.

Organizations

The 2030 Center

Founded in 1997, the 2030 Center is a public policy organization for young adults. The 2030 Center's mission is to advocate for the economic interest of young workers. The name 2030 refers to people in their 20s and 30s. It also refers to the year 2030, not simply for its significance as a demographic benchmark for our society. The 2030 Center is addressing the economic future of today's younger generations.

Information From the United States Department of Labor

State Labor Offices

State Minimum Wage Rates 

Employment/Age Certificate Issuance

Practice Under State Child Labor Laws and Programs

Minimum hourly cash wage

• For tipped employees under State minimum wage laws 

Selected State child labor standards affecting minors under 18 in non-farm employment

State regulation of door-to-door sales by minors

Employment related provisions

Other Government Sources

Better Business Bureau
Investigating consumer and employee complaints across the U.S.

California Labor Laws for Minors
An online pamphlet that clearly explains child labor laws in California.

Federal Minimum Wage Hotline
Information on Federal minimum wage laws

Immigration & Naturalization Service (INS)
Federal right-to-work laws and forms

Publications

Improving Career Outcomes for Youth: Lessons from the U.S. and OECD Experience

High youth unemployment and weak systems of career preparation are continuing concerns for modern societies. Over the last two decades, youth unemployment has become less of a priority issue in the United States, as policymakers increasingly focus on the quality of education and training. Other members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) are continuing to emphasize the problem of youth joblessness even among workers in their early 20s. This paper reviews the lessons from the experience in the United States and other OECD countries about the diagnosis of these problems and what policies have worked to help young people obtain jobs and enter productive careers.

AFOP Child Labor in Agriculture Newsletter
Newsletter from the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs. Volume 2 tells the real stories of many kids working in the fields of the USA. It takes a little while to download, but is worth the wait!

What Works: Corporate Success in Tackling the Youth Jobs Crisis

By P. Calamai.  How Canada sees a social issue often shapes what gets done about it. Take the crisis in youth employment for example. Some people see the youth jobs issue largely in terms of numbers. These are really big numbers. There are the 600,000 young Canadians who are jobless and over 300,000 more who are underemployed, involuntarily working part-time.

Rural Youth Employment

Compiled by Liam R. Kennedy. A major issue in rural America, for leaders, and the community, as a whole, is that of teen or youth employment and the associated out migration. What job opportunities are available to teens in rural environments and how does a community keep its youth from leaving for better jobs?

High School Employment: Meaningful Connections for At-Risk Youth

By Duncan Chaplin and Jane Hannaway. Part-time employment among high school students has increased dramatically in recent years, raising the question of whether this is a productive activity for young people who are still enrolled in high school. In this paper we use data from the High School and Beyond Survey to estimate the effects of high school employment on education and employment outcomes as long as 12 years after graduating from high school.

The Economics of Despair

By Andy Sum. Since the late 1970s, social science researchers, the media, private foundations, and policymakers have directed considerable attention to the labor market problems of young adults and their families. Most of this attention has focused on high school dropouts, the poor, minorities, and inner-city youth. But an equally troubling—and broader—problem has received comparatively less notice: the steep and sustained decline since 1973 in the real (inflation-adjusted) earnings of young men and women generally.

Education and the work histories of young adults

In the Spirit of Youth and the City Streets, urban reformer Jane Addams explores the alienation of modern youth caused by commercialized recreation, no outlets for romance and adventure, and the monotony of modern industry. (1909)

Child Labor Photographs