XII STANDARDS OF CHILD LABOR LEGISLATION CERTAIN standards have been worked out as the result of the discussion of the last ten years. There is fairly general agreement that labor on the part of children should be prohibited up to the age of fourteen years, and to sixteen years in all work where there is unusual risk to life, health, or morals. Beyond these two restrictions there is apparently no general popular agreement. As has already been indicated, the National Child Labor Committee, in its Uniform Child Labor Law, has laid down certain principles which may be regarded as standards for State legislation. 1. The first of these fundamentals limits the hours of labor for children and young persons. There should be provision for not more than eight hours in any one day and not more than forty-eight hours in any one week for boys under sixteen and for girls under eighteen, and not more than ten hours in any one day and not more than fifty-four hours in any one week for boys under eighteen and girls under twenty-one. 2. Night work by children and young persons should be strictly prohibited. No boy under sixteen and no girl under eighteen should be employed before seven A. M. or after six P. M., and no boy under eighteen and no girl under twenty-one should be employed before six A. M. or after ten P. M. 3. The strict regulation of street trades, with abso lute prohibition in all cases of boys under twelve and of girls under sixteen and in some cases, such as the night messenger service, under twenty-one. 4. The employment of children of any age should be conditioned upon the completion of certain grades in the public schools and the possession of certain mental and physical qualifications. The mere requirement of school attendance up to fourteen years of age does not insure adequate education. If the child is absolutely normal and does not have any interruption in his school work, he may complete the eighth grade by the fourteenth year, but if he is in any way retarded, he will fail unless he remains voluntarily longer in school. A study of Chicago schools brought out the fact that nearly one-third of the total number enrolled were retarded.93 The meaning of this situation is plain. Furthermore, actual tests have shown that those who leave before completing the eighth grade only imperfectly acquire what they have studied. If boys and girls are to receive even a minimum of education, they must be kept in school until they have completed certain prescribed courses. Thus, the best child labor law is a compulsory education law requiring attendance during the entire school year up to sixteen years of age, unless a certain requirement has been met. This minimum ought to be the completion of the eighth grade, but at least it should be the finishing of the fifth grade the standard set by the Uniform Child Labor Law. How does Iowa legislation stand these tests? There is prohibition of child labor up to fourteen years of age in the main fields of industry and business, and in dangerous occupations up to sixteen years. The only limitation of hours and night work is contained in the provisions that no person under sixteen shall be employed before six A. M. and after nine P. M., and not exceeding ten hours in any one day, but these restrictions do not apply to husking sheds in canneries where no machinery is operated. There is no regulation of street trades. There is compulsory school attendance for children under sixteen who have not completed the eighth grade unless employed. Otherwise, there is no recognition in Iowa of the principle that before employment a child should have completed a certain minimum of education. NOTES AND REFERENCES 1 Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910, Vol. IV, p. 70. 2 Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910, Vol. IV, pp. 28, 29. This increase may be explained by the instructions given to the enumerators in which unusual emphasis was placed upon ascertaining the trade or occupation of every person. 8 Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910, Vol. IV, p. 70. 4 Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910, Vol. IV, p. 75. 5 Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910, Vol. IV, p. 77. 6 Nearing's The Solution of the Child Labor Problem, p. 26. 7 Nearing's The Solution of the Child Labor Problem, p. 28. 8 Frey's Social Cost of Child Labor in The Child Labor Bulletin, Vol. I, No. 1, pp. 116, 117; Ryan's Burdens on Women and Children in The Child Labor Bulletin, Vol. I, No. 1, pp. 174, 175. Nearing's The Solution of the Child Labor Problem, p. 30. 10 Nearing's The Solution of the Child Labor Problem, p. 64. 11 McKelway's Child Labor and Democracy in The Child Labor Bulletin, Vol. I, No. 1, p. 126. 12 Clopper's Child Labor in City Streets, p. 2. 17 Clopper's Child Labor in City Streets, pp. 102, 103. 18 Puffer's Vocational Guidance, p. 131; The Survey, Vol. XXIV, p. 316. 19 Nearing's The Solution of the Child Labor Problem, p. 53. 20 Nearing's The Solution of the Child Labor Problem, p. 78. 21 Kelley's Part-Time Schools in The Child Labor Bulletin, Vol. I, No. 1, p. 110. |