Posted on 03/31/2025 9:04:04 AM PDT by Cronos
A proposed law in Florida, which aims to reduce restrictions on child labor, is making its way toward approval, but not without raising criticism. While the state administration seeks to fill the gap left by deported immigrants with an alternative workforce, opposing voices warn of the dangers associated with the exploitation of younger individuals.
The bill, already approved by the Senate’s Commerce and Tourism Committee, allows 14-year-olds to work during the night, removing the current ban that prevents them from being employed between 11:00 PM and 6:30 AM. A step that supporters consider a response to the growing labor shortage, but which has raised concerns among groups defending children’s rights. They believe this measure could expose young people to harmful working conditions, treating them like adults and risking their physical and psychological development.
Despite objections, including those from Alexis Tsoukalas, an analyst at the Florida Policy Institute, an independent and nonpartisan organization dedicated to public policy research and analysis, who calls the law a potential “exploitation of minors,” the proposal continues to gain momentum. Governor Ron DeSantis, a supporter of the reform, has defended the initiative and reiterated that part-time work for young people is certainly not a new concept.
The bill, which follows a similar law passed in 2023 that already eased some restrictions on child labor, is set to fuel the debate about the line between work opportunities and the protection of young people’s rights. The measure still needs to pass through two more committees and gain final approval from the Senate, but the discussion remains divided between those who view it as a necessary solution and those who fear a step backward in protecting adolescents...
(Excerpt) Read more at lavocedinewyork.com ...
I don’t see many kids working those hours.
I think this is being pushed by the Agricultural lobby. If the supply of illegal aliens used in agriculture gets severely reduced due to Trump’s deportations, then people are going to be needed to work in the fields.
I grew up in a farming community, my family was not farmers, but nearly every friend I had as kid their family was farmers.
All the kids I grew up with worked in the fields.
The biggest cash crop was watermelons followed by tobacco.
Since the time I was 13-14 years old, I picked watermelons in the early summer, followed by picking tobacco, then bailing hay in the late summer.
Typical media hype and distortion.
It's why the job of overseeing the deportation of illegals was unceremoniously ripped away from DeSantis by the state legislature just a month or so ago, which then awarded it to itself.
It hasn't taken very long for these monied special interests to begin having withdrawal symptoms from losing access to their cheap labor "fix".
My 1st W-2 job was a dishwasher which went into the night.
I grew up on a 20 acre family farm. We, my four siblings and I, started working at about age 5. There was plenty of light work that could be done the kids. As we grew older, the responsibilities and labor demands increased.
There is nothing wrong with having young folks learn the value of hard work. It motivated me to seek a medical career. 😂
My first W2 job was harvesting catfish fingerlings at $1.62 an hour.
Did you read the bill?
My family was not farmers but in my community most of us kids went to pick berries at age eleven. By age twelve I did berries and beans made a thousand dollars in 1962 at age twelve.
“people are going to be needed to work in the fields”
I’ve already found farmers the replacement worker! It’s about $25-$30k not per year but one time payment:
Optimus - Gen 2 | Tesla
New bot in town!
Optimus Gen 2 features Tesla-designed actuators and sensors, faster and more capable hands, faster walking, lower total weight, articulated neck, and more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpraXaw7dyc
(Some screaming leftist might destroy it though)
If it’s not on a school night and the child has parental permission I think it is a good idea. However those hours should have a higher per hour wage than regular daytime hours.
PS. There are still going to be restrictions on the type of work those under 18 (or 16 for some jobs) are allowed to work. Mostly dealing with safety concerns.
Does this include restrictions against Disney pedo labor?
One of the reasons I never smoked is from picking tobacco as a kid, raw green tobacco is nasty, the juice from the tobacco plant was sticky and hard to wash off, at the end of the day all the dirt you got on you combined with the juice from the tobacco plant made you filthy and was difficult to get clean.
Plus, traditionally you picked tobacco in the middle of a hot Florida summer.
In our small town you didn’t have any friends around until late in the afternoon, if you didn’t pick crops. The row bosses and bus drivers were schoolteachers. Then the morons back east got in mental anguish about child labor and many lost their jobs.
New strip club in Disney?
I was 10 when my family moved to a farming community, I was not strong enough to pick watermelons all day and keep up with older boys, I was plenty strong enough pick up a hoe and clean out rows, ride a lawnmower to cut a 2-acre yard, drag bales of hay out of a barn to feed the livestock, etc., one thing working like that taught me that getting an education was key because working with your brain instead of your back was a better option, it certainly did teach me the value of work.
WE had 120 acres. Even a 4 year old can throw scratch for chickens
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