News Newt Gingrich Calls for Repeal of Child Labor Laws in Impoverished Areas

[SixNein]

it all sounds very dire! i think child labor laws were passed to keep kids out of factories all day. but what if they spend 15 minutes picking up trash at the school? or even an hour? is that what child labor laws are written to prevent? why would that be a bad thing?

Call me radical, but I think America would be better served to have them study instead.

 

[dacruick]

Call me radical, but I think America would be better served to have them study instead.

Academics have been shown to actually not serve the youth very well. I think kids need a balanced approach to life, as university degrees have become a dime a dozen and no longer secure job. They are already in school for 5 hours a day, I agree that 15 minutes of some form labour would be a good idea.

And to be honest, I feel like a lot of America's problems stem from entitlement in terms of materialism. Earning your own money, through your own labour, gives a sense of pride as well as meaning to the money.

 

[SixNein]

Academics have been shown to actually not serve the youth very well.

I demand evidence.

 

[Proton Soup]

Call me radical, but I think America would be better served to have them study instead.

i think they would be better served to combine theory with application.

 

[MarcoD]

Academics have been shown to actually not serve the youth very well.

I think there is some truth to that, but there is some truth to the other extreme, ignorance and populism too. Berlusconi probably being the prime example of how the screw the youth of a nation... literally...

I agree, it's about balance.

 

[dacruick]

[STRIKE][/STRIKE]

I demand evidence.

I'm surprised you need evidence for this. Google unemployment rates for people with college or university degrees in the united states.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t04.htm - Employment status - Bureau of Labor Statistics

"The jobless rate for Americans with at least a bachelor's degree rose to 5.1%, the highest since 1970 when records were first kept, reports the Bureau of Labor Statistics. October's 4.7% rate was up from 4.4% in September. Meanwhile, the national unemployment rate last month rose to 9.8% from 9.6%."

-http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/employment/2010-12-06-collegegrads06_ST_N.htm

 

[turbo]

Are all Republicans reading from the same song-sheet? And who distributes the sheets?

The reason that I pose this question is that Maine's Tea-Party governor wants to roll back restrictions on the number of hours children can work, and restrictions on the times of day that children can work, and wants to give businesses the right to pay sub-minimum wages to children. None of these proposals seem too wonderful in a time of such high unemployment, when our tax revenues are plummeting. Children would make so little money that their contributions to our state's tax revenues wouldn't even make a blip.

Maine is hardly antithetical to child labor. In fact, schools in Aroostook county close in the fall every year during potato harvesting season so that kids can help in the harvest, sorting, culling and cleaning spuds, etc.

http://www.nclnet.org/worker-rights/82-child-labor/494-state-child-labor-laws-under-attack

 

[dacruick]

None of these proposals seem too wonderful in a time of such high unemployment, when our tax revenues are plummeting. Children would make so little money that their contributions to our state's tax revenues wouldn't even make a blip.

This is true in a lot of ways, but I don't think the idea is to get children to take over existing jobs, or jobs that are available to adults (at least I hope not). If that's the case ,then I'm strongly against this notion. I was under the impression that some programs would be put into place which create and allocate small tasks to children who are looking to make 5 bucks here or there. I think that the concept of earning is much more valuable than the earnings themselves at that age.

 

[ThomasT]

It seems that what Gingrich is essentially proposing wrt child labor laws is that the minimum age to legally work and pay taxes be lowered. I don't see anything wrong with that.

But Gingrich's 'school janitor' idea is silly, imo. Also, I don't get his idea about the main obstacle(s) to breaking the cycle of poverty in, primarily, minority communities.

It isn't clear how many (currently underage) kids might actually need to work (ie., to get sufficient food, clothing and shelter -- not to get $100 sneakers, iphones, and laptop computers).

 

[MarcoD]

I demand evidence.

This has little to do with the US situation, but I've been watching how the previous financial crisis was handled in the Netherlands, and one conclusion is that we're partly governed by academic idiots; i.e., most people were handling the situation right, except for the academics. So, yeah, having a degree doesn't seem to imply that you cannot do billions of damage to an economy.

 

[Office_Shredder]

This has little to do with the US situation, but I've been watching how the previous financial crisis was handled in the Netherlands, and one conclusion is that we're partly governed by academic idiots; i.e., most people were handling the situation right, except for the academics. So, yeah, having a degree doesn't seem to imply that you cannot do billions of damage to an economy.

Your anecdotal opinion is persuasive evidence that cannot be countered. Well done sir

 

[MarcoD]

Your anecdotal opinion is persuasive evidence that cannot be countered. Well done sir

Ah, dunno. I doubt we'll ever really find out what happened. I just hope that if we got suckered, no idea, they'll do something nasty with the secret service. Looks to me that that's a place where you should really use them, instead of studying some OWS idiot.

 

[JonDE]

Because somewhere employers that employ at least some folks at the current minimum wage are making the calculation that they can *just* make money by selling a given product with a given payroll. A minimum wage increase necessarily increases that payroll, so someone has to go. There are caveats to the simple story I share here, I know, but it basically holds.

In a booming economy one might argue that the employer is already scrambling to meet demand and so can afford a higher payroll to keep already hard to find help. I don't buy that argument even under those conditions, but certainly not now in a weak economy.

This is essentially wrong for several reasons. First you seem to be implying that employers employ how many ever people they want regardless of outside forces, they don't. Employers employ how many people they need to operate the business. If demand stays the same, they cannot afford to let people go, because they would produce or sell less. What increasing the minimum wage does, is stimulates demand. People that make minimum wage have very bad savings rates. I'm not arguing that it should be massively jumped up to $12, as that could cause severe inflation.
Second you seem to be insinuating that businesses aren't increasing their prices. This is also wrong. Inflation came in last year at over 5%. If per person pay did not increase at a similar rate, the difference would be pocketed as profits.

 

[mheslep]

This is essentially wrong for several reasons. First you seem to be implying that employers employ how many ever people they want regardless of outside forces, they don't.

Employers employ how many people they need to operate the business.

... to operate the business profitably.

If demand stays the same, they cannot afford to let people go, because they would produce or sell less.

Businesses can and do shrink in size (i.e let people go) due to shrinking demand or an increase in supply costs that the market will not allow them to pass on. However, they can not run at at net loss (for long).

What increasing the minimum wage does, is stimulates demand.

So some say, though I'm not convinced.

People that make minimum wage have very bad savings rates.

People that make minimum wage? Do you have a source for that? I believe that many minimum wage earners are youth working part time, if they were lucky enough to find a job in this economy, and as such often do not use wages for daily needs, but instead save for a car and the like.

I'm not arguing that it should be massively jumped up to $12, as that could cause severe inflation.
Second you seem to be insinuating that businesses aren't increasing their prices.

? Not me.

...Inflation came in last year at over 5%. If per person pay did not increase at a similar rate, the difference would be pocketed as profits.

Price increases in sales might also reflect price increases in supply, leaving (possibly) no difference. In any case, wages do no increase only by means of the government forcing them up.

 

[widereader]

Child Labor Laws do protect children. America has these laws that prevent children from being exploited. However, in a country like the Philippines where children has to work to augment food on the table, these laws can sometimes draw out from the reality that sometimes law is not "kind."