Missouri Republican Moves to Loosen Child Labor Laws, Calls Children 'Lazy'

A Missouri Republican advocated loosening child labor laws, saying children were "lazy" and should get jobs like she did at the age of 9.

In 2023, the Department of Labor announced plans to crack down on child labor amid a surge in violations after several states loosened workplace protections.

This week, Missouri state Representative Cheri Toalson Reisch, speaking in favor of a bill that would change a requirement for children under 16 to get a certificate from their school before getting a work permit, said: "At what point are people going to be self-responsible? Some people seem to think the government is the answer to everything."

"These young kids need to be taught self-responsibility," she continued. "And I can tell you my personal story. I started working at age 9. And I continued to work throughout high school when I was 14, 15."

Reisch said having a job did not affect her education and that she graduated from high school early. She added: "You know what these kids of today are? Majority of them are lazy. They don't know what work ethic is. But they know how to play video games all night. They know how to join gangs. They know how to get into trouble. Get a job and be responsible. Vote yes."

The Missouri law requiring children under the age of 16 to obtain a certificate issued by their school to get a work permit mainly applies to 14- and 15-year-olds, as children under the age of 14 are generally not allowed to work.

The new bill would require only a parent or guardian to sign a permission slip for the employer.

The bill to change the permission requirement is sponsored by Republican state Representative Dave Hinman, who told the Missouri Independent that he believed schools shouldn't play a role in the process.

"With discussions with our superintendent and other folks around here," Hinman told the outlet, "we felt it was better that the parents make that decision instead of schools being the ones that sign off on it."

Critics of the Missouri bill say removing the permit requirement may lead to children being exploited.

"We need to be careful because at the same time that [some states are] doing this, weakening restrictions, we're seeing an increase in child labor violations and some really bad cases over the last few years," John Fliter, an associate professor of political science at Kansas State University who studies child labor, told the Missouri Independent.

He added that the school certificates created a record of employers acknowledging they would follow the law and allowed schools to play a "supervisory role" to ensure that children's employment did not have a negative effect on their education.