Mexico City [Mexico], June 18: Child labor is common in the United States, even in the high-risk agricultural sector, exposed to job-related injury or death, the Caracas-based television network Telesur has reported.
"Children aged 15-17 are four times more likely to die on a farm than in other workplaces," Telesur reported on its website on Monday, citing data from the U.S. Department of Labor.
According to the data, farming is one of the deadliest jobs in the United States, twice as deadly as law enforcement, five times as firefighting and 73 times as Wall Street investment banking.
"Under the U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act, children above age 12 can legally work unlimited hours on farms of any size with parental permission, as long as they do not miss school, and those above age 16 working in agriculture can do jobs experts deem particularly hazardous. There is no minimum age for children to work on small farms or family farms," the report said.
The data is striking, especially as it concerns the United States, "a self-proclaimed 'beacon of human rights'," where "children are not truly protected, and child labor is common," it added.
Source: Xinhua