Americans open to looser teen labor laws amid tariffs, worker shortages

Business Journals

21-04-2025

Many believe relaxing restrictions for younger workers could help mitigate higher costs associated with tariffs.
Many Americans would support legislation to loosen work rules for teenagers if it would help lower price increases because of tariffs or to combat worker shortages.
A new survey of 2,000 Americans by ResumeTemplates found 47% of respondents support employing more teenagers to keep prices down, and 51% said they believe companies should hire teenagers rather than migrant workers. Americans that supported employing teenagers over immigrants cited benefits to teenagers and an "America-first" philosophy.
The desire by some to upend decades of labor laws for children and younger workers comes amid a burgeoning trade war after the Trump administration instituted blanket 10% tariffs on most imports, in addition to far higher tariffs on goods imported from China. The administration earlier this month paused another set of sweeping tariffs for 90 days. An aggressive crackdown on undocumented immigrants by the administration has also put White House officials at odds with the Supreme Court.
"The Fair Labor Standards Act lets children as young as 12 work, but with safeguards to prevent exploitation and injury," said Julia Toothcare, chief career strategist at ResumeTemplates, in a news release. "Rolling those protections back risks exposing kids to dangerous conditions and unfair pay."
About 30% of Americans say children under 16 who work should not be paid the minimum wage, while 8% say the minimum wage should only be for those 17 and older.
"Paying teens less simply because of their age undercuts the purpose of wage laws," Toothcare said. "Fair compensation should apply to every worker."
About 37% of those surveyed said they supported getting rid of at least some protections for teen workers, including:
22% said they would support removing limits on the hours minors may work
20% said they would support lowering the minimum working age
8% said they would support allowing minors in hazardous roles, such as construction or factory work
States consider changes to child-labor laws
The desire to use teenagers as a solution to workforce woes is not hypothetical.
In Florida, the state legislature has advanced legislation that would allow children as young as 14 to work overnight shifts — they are currently only allowed to work until 11 p.m. and can't start work until 6:30 a.m. Nearly all restrictions would be lifted for 16- and 17-year-old workers. In West Virginia, lawmakers are considering legislation that would remove a requirement that 14- and 15-year-olds get work permits.
The push to loosen child-labor laws predates the Trump administration. The Economic Policy Institute, in a report published this year, found since 2023, eight states have proposed eliminating permits for younger workers. The U.S. Department of Labor found that states without work permits for younger workers saw child-labor cases skyrocket.
It is unclear how many teenagers would want to work any job that pays less than the minimum wage. Currently, the unemployment rate for workers ages 16 to 19 is hovering near a seasonally-adjusted 13.7% — lower than most periods over the past 50 years, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. While the rate dipped below that in the years following the pandemic, it is in line with where it stood in 2019. Before then, the last time unemployment for those ages 16 to 19 was that low was in 2000.
The total share of workers ages 16 to 19 compared to the overall population hovers at about 32.4%, although that percentage has also risen over the past 15 years, from a low of around 25% in the wake of the global financial crisis. The share of teen workers compared to the overall population has overall been declining for decades as more teenagers have chosen to attend college over entering the workforce as a teen or after graduating high school.
Prices on the rise because of tariffs
CEOs have already started taking action to mitigate the impact of tariffs.
Forty-four percent of the respondents to a survey by CEO coaching firm Vistage said they have increased prices since the start of the year, and 51% said they plan to increase prices in the coming months. One big area of concern has been — and will continue to be — the cost of construction materials and goods, a significant share of which comes from abroad. But if the economy tips into a recession, the odds of which economists say are heightened by Trump's trade war, commercial real estate dealmaking and activity will inevitably slow, too.
Optimism among small-business owners, meanwhile, slipped in March, according to a survey by the National Federation of Independent Business, with 30% of those survey respondents saying they raised prices in March, the highest response rate in a year. Meanwhile, some six-figure jobs are drying up as companies brace for the uncertainty.
For companies that want to raise prices but are unsure how to do it successfully, The Playbook has compiled advice from experts. For business owners figuring out how to brace for higher tariffs, there are some steps to take right now.