LAD #29: Keating-Owen Child Labor Act

People in the United States became more aware of the many abuses occurring against young children by big businesses. This awareness is because of the work of "muckrakers." This led to the Keating-Owen Child Labor Act. The act was based on a proposal from 1906 and made it illegal to employ workers under 14 and made it illegal for 15-17 year olds to work nights or more than 8 hours in a day. The act was declared unconstitutional because it tried to regulate interstate commerce. After the Keating-Owen act was denied, the Child Labor Tax Law was also defeated in 1919. This was supposed to heavily tax all shops using child labor, but was denied because Congress would not curb the power of the states to regulate local trade. After many similar acts were also found unconstitutional, the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed in 1938. This made child labor illegal. Its legality was challenged, but it is still present today.