Girls as Farmworkers
In agriculture, girls still work long hours around dangerous chemicals and are unprotected by child labor laws. These are not small family farms—this is agribusiness.
Federal laws passed in 1938 helped protect children under 16. But agriculture was exempt from this legislation, allowing children to continue working in fields across America.
Fair Labor Standards Act, 1938
Girls in agriculture aren't protected because back in the day politicians argued that farm families needed the help of their children. So children working in agriculture were excluded from the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. This act prohibited children from working in dangerous industries, but children could continue to work in the fields
Currently half a million children harvest a quarter of our crops.
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It was just super hot because we had to wear...protective clothes like sweaters so the chemicals or sun doesn't hit you.
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[A]ll of a sudden, here comes the airplane throwing all the pesticides at us. We get rashes from the pesticides.
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Our dad always kept an eye on us girls....He knew that foremen would take advantage of young girls.
