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Source: General Accounting Office (GAO), pre July 2004
Resulting in 3 citations.
1. General Accounting Office
Child Labor: Labor Can Strengthen Its Efforts to Protect Children Who Work
Report GAO-02-880 to the Chairman, Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, Committee on Appropriations, US Senate, September 2002. Washington DC: General Accouting Office, 2002.
Also: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d02880.pdf
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: General Accounting Office (GAO) (pre July 2004)
Keyword(s): Child Labor; Children, Academic Development; Current Population Survey (CPS) / CPS-Fertility Supplement; Educational Attainment; Ethnic Differences; Injuries; Job Hazards; Legislation; Part-Time Work; Work Experience; Working Conditions

In 2001, almost 40 percent of all 16- and 17-year-olds in the United States and many 14- and 15-year-olds worked at some time in the year. Children in the United States are often encouraged to work and many people believe that children benefit from early work experiences by developing independence, confidence, and responsibility. However, the public also wants to ensure that the work experiences of young people enhance, rather than harm, their future opportunities. Over 200,000 children are injured on the job each year and about 70 die as a result of their injuries, according to a recent report by the Department of Labor. In addition, while work can have a positive effect on academic achievement, working too many hours may adversely affect children's educational attainment. To protect children from such harmful effects, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), with provisions on child labor, was enacted in 1938. These provisions established the minimum age at which children can work, limited the number of hours and times of day they can work, and prohibited them from performing work defined as hazardous. It also made the Secretary of Labor responsible for defining work that is too hazardous for children and for enforcing the provisions of the law.

You asked us to update information from our 1991 reports on child labor by providing information on (1) how the number and characteristics of working children in the United States have changed over the past decade, (2) whether the number and characteristics of work-related injuries to children have changed over this same time period, and (3) how well Labor enforces the child labor provisions of FLSA.

To obtain this information, we analyzed data on the characteristics of, and injuries to, children obtained from Labor?s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and injury data from the Department of Health and Human Services? National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH); reviewed the child labor provisions of FLSA and its implementing regulations, agency documents, information from Labor?s investigations database, and individual case files; interviewed Labor officials in Washington, D.C., and 11 field offices (5 regions and 6 district offices), officials from NIOSH, and other experts on child labor; and developed estimates of the number of children who are employed illegally by comparing BLS data on working children to the child labor provisions of FLSA. Most of the estimates in the report were calculated using data obtained from samples and, therefore, have sampling errors associated with them. All differences included in the report were tested for statistical significance at the 0.05 level. See app. I for detailed information on our analysis, including its limitations. We conducted our work from September 2001 to August 2002 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.

Bibliography Citation
General Accounting Office. Child Labor: Labor Can Strengthen Its Efforts to Protect Children Who Work. Report GAO-02-880 to the Chairman, Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, Committee on Appropriations, US Senate, September 2002. Washington DC: General Accouting Office, 2002..
2. General Accounting Office
Child Support Assurance: Effect of Applying State Guidelines to Determine Fathers' Payments
Report to the Secretary-designate of Health and Human Services, GAO/HRD-93-26. Washington, DC: General Accounting Office, 1993
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: General Accounting Office (GAO) (pre July 2004)
Keyword(s): Child Support; Fathers, Absence; Fertility; Income; Poverty; Self-Reporting

Researchers interested in noncustodial fathers regard the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) as one of the best sources of data on young noncustodial fathers. We used the 1988 interviews from the NLSY to analyze a limited segment of the overall population that would be affected by child support assurance. From these data, the most recent available at the time of our work, we constructed the variables of income and poverty status. We used the NLSY sampling weights to compute estimates for our study population--young noncustodial fathers in the United States, aged 23 to 31 in 1988. Because these estimates are based on data from a sample, each estimate has an associated sampling error. We computed sampling errors at the 95 percent confidence level, using the procedure outlined in the NLSY technical sampling report. Except where noted, the sampling errors for the estimates presented in this report were + or - 5 percentage points or less. Our analysis is limited to young noncustodial fathers who were aged 23 to 31 years old at the time of the interview in 1988. Research indicates that noncustodial fathers tend to underreport children for whom they do not provide. Because we relied on self reports to identify noncustodial fathers, our estimates are representative of fathers who are able and willing to report their paternity. Information is not available regarding the establishment of court-ordered child support awards for men in the NLSY. We assumed that paternity could be established for self-reporting noncustodial fathers and that they represent the universe of young fathers whose children could be eligible for a minimum assured benefit.
Bibliography Citation
General Accounting Office. Child Support Assurance: Effect of Applying State Guidelines to Determine Fathers' Payments. Report to the Secretary-designate of Health and Human Services, GAO/HRD-93-26. Washington, DC: General Accounting Office, 1993.
3. General Accounting Office
Mother-Only Families: Low Earnings Will Keep Many Children in Poverty
GAO/HRD-91-62 Report to Congress, Washington DC: General Accounting Office, 1991
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: General Accounting Office (GAO) (pre July 2004)
Keyword(s): Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC); Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Benefits, Fringe; Child Care; Child Health; Children; Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC); Earnings; Government Regulation; Maternal Employment; Mothers; Parents, Single; Poverty; Welfare

This report examines the problems that mother-only families face in attaining economic self-sufficiency and discusses the impact that recent federal initiatives such as the Family Support Act (FSA) 1988 and the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act 1990, both of which contained key provisions aimed at assisting low income families, may have in assisting such women and their children stay out of poverty. Utilizing data from the NLSY, comparisons are made of the characteristics and employment potential of poor and non-poor mothers. The analysis found that young poor single mothers face enormous barriers to economic self-sufficiency: (1) limited earnings potential, concomitant educational deficiencies (lower levels of education and lower AFQT scores) and less work experience; (2) responsibility for larger numbers of children and the need for economical child care options and greater family income in order to stay out of poverty; (3) less than full-time year-round employment at lower wages; and (4) jobs which did not provide such important fringe benefits as health insurance and sick leave. Various income projections, based on potential earnings for employed women, child care costs and taxes, revealed that many single mothers and their children will remain in poverty even with full-time employment and will need additional income supplements to raise themselves and their families out of poverty. Implications of the recently enacted FSA JOBS and child support enforcement provisions, and increases in the Earned Income Tax Credit for mother-only families are discussed.
Bibliography Citation
General Accounting Office. "Mother-Only Families: Low Earnings Will Keep Many Children in Poverty." GAO/HRD-91-62 Report to Congress, Washington DC: General Accounting Office, 1991.