NCJ Number
124817
Date Published
1990
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This GAO study found that, in a variety of communities and industries throughout the United States, there appears to be a significant problem with "sweatshops" -- workplaces that regularly violate both wage or child labor laws and workplace safety or health standards.
Abstract
The GAO found that, despite the labor law strictures of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, violations of child labor laws are widespread and have been on the rise since the early 1980s. The number of children found to be illegally employed in the United States reached nearly 22,500 in 1989, up from 9,200 in 1983, representing levels higher than those of the 1970s. At the same time, as of FY89 about 25,000 children were employed in violation of more than one child labor standard, a 150 percent increase over the 10,000 such violations in FY83. The greatest growth occurred in violations of the hours standard which tripled from about 5,000 in 1983 to more than 15,000 in 1989. Violations of the federal minimum age standard and hazardous order restrictions roughly doubled over this same period. Between FY83 and FY89, more than three-quarters of the detected child labor violations were found in retail trade. Within this sector, 42 percent of all violations were found in restaurants and 26 percent were detected in grocery stores. "Sweatshops" are particularly well entrenched in the restaurant, apparel, and meat processing industries. Finally, the GAO also found that large numbers of children are being injured, sometimes fatally, at work. For 1988, 26 states provided the GAO with injury data showing that minors under the age of 18 suffered more than 31,500 work-related injuries and illnesses. In a nationwide survey of over 100 federal and state officials responsible for enforcing laws relevant to working conditions, the GAO found that sweatshops are a problem. Thirty-five state labor department directors identified industries in their states with such violations, and 40 out of 53 federal officials noted that sweatshops are a problem in at least one industry in their respective regions. 3 graphs, 4 references.