Child labor modern problem for U.S.: Washington Post

Under capitalism, employers with a labor shortage have two options: Offer better pay and benefits, or find a more desperate, more exploitable labor pool available to do the work. The current domestic pool, it seems, is increasingly made up of children, reported The Washington Post on Thursday, said Xinhua.

"The (U.S.) labor market's pandemic-fueled depletion has coincided with an increase in the number of unaccompanied minors crossing the U.S. border in search of better lives," said the report. "This situation has led to a steep increase since 2018 in reports of minors being illegally employed -- often allowed or forced into exploitative, dangerous jobs."

In response to those outrageous reports of exploitation and endangerment of income-earning minors, one solution being proposed is to loosen some laws and let minors do previously prohibited work, noted the report. All parents worthy of the title -- income-earning, at-home, step-, grand-, surrogate -- want to protect their kids from abuse and exploitation.

"We're quick to intervene when their peers, teachers, coaches and bosses cross the line. But many of the kids who will be most affected by looser labor standards have no one at home to intervene for them," it said.

"They need witnesses and advocates in their schools and communities to speak up, and government and businesses to team up to enforce and preserve the laws that exist to protect them. Most of all, they need a society that doesn't impose or support obligations that only the most desperate and vulnerable can be persuaded or compelled to fulfill," it added.