For Immediate Release
	Sept. 23, 2003
	Contact: Carol McKay
	202-835-3323
	media@nclnet.org

American Working Teens Fact Sheet

Who’s Working?

• 70-80 percent of teens have worked for pay at some time during their high school years.[i]
• Fifty percent of employed youth work more than 15 hours during a school week. One in six work more than 25 hours during a school week.[ii]
• As many as 800,000 youth between the ages of 5 and 18 are working as migrant and seasonal farmworkers.[iii]
• 148,000 youth are illegally employed in an average week in the United States.[iv]

The Dangers of Youth Employment

• Every 30 seconds, a young worker under the age of 18 is injured in the workplace. One teen dies due to workplace injury on average every five days.[v]
• Fatalities among working youth under age 18 have remained consistent with an average of 67 deaths per year (1992-2000).
• Injuries to working youth have increased. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) estimated that working teens experienced 200,000 injuries in 1992. This number rose to 230,000 injuries in 1998.
• Adolescents treated in hospital emergency rooms for work-related injuries have increased. In 1992, NIOSH estimated 64,000 emergency room visits. That number climbed to 77,000 in 1998.

• Recent studies have shown that teens who work in excess of 20 hours a week suffer from both a decline in academics and an increase in drug and alcohol abuse.  

Protecting Our Teen Workers: A Law in Need of Modernization

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 was designed to protect the educational opportunities of minors and prohibit their employment in jobs and under conditions detrimental to their health or well-being. There has never been a comprehensive review of the child labor provisions of the FLSA since its enactment in 1938. Only piecemeal revisions and updates have occurred.

Currently under the FLSA:

• Ten-year-old children may be legally employed as migrant and seasonal farmworkers, harvesting our nation’s fruits and vegetables.
• Youth 16 and older who are in school may work up to 40 hours a week during the school year, with unlimited hours per day and late night hours.
• There is only limited protection for youth from dangers in construction, driving/operating machinery, and agriculture. High incidents of injuries and deaths among working minors occur in these areas.

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America's pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to identify, protect, represent, and advance the economic and social interests of consumers and workers. NCL is a private, nonprofit membership organization. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org. Each summer, NCL releases its Five Worst Teen Jobs. To check out the Five Worst of 2003, visit www.nclnet.org/childlabor.

###