1942: Child Labor

The world-wide demands of war have called large numbers of adult workers from their ordinary peacetime employment to military service or to the manufacture of war goods and have led to a shortage of adult labor in many activities essential to civilian life and to the support of the armed forces. A resulting demand for new sources of labor has brought about the employment not only of thousands of women and older persons not usually in the labor market, but of large numbers of young persons and children who would normally have remained in school. While these employment opportunities have given work to older youth who had left school, new problems have developed with respect to the cutting short of education and the unfavorable conditions under which many boys and girls are employed.

Conditions in the United States.

When the United States entered its first year of actual participation in the war in December 1941, mounting production, owing to the defense program of this country and the needs of Great Britain and her allies for war materials under the lend-lease program, had already increased the employment of boys and girls 16 and 17 years of age, and to a lesser degree of children under 16. This trend has been greatly accelerated during 1942. Whereas in the early spring of 1940, when the last Federal Census was taken, somewhat less than 900,000 young persons between 14 and 18 years of age were reported as employed, estimates based on sample trends indicate that in July 1942, when many school children had vacation jobs, more than 3,000,000 were at work and in October probably around 2,000,000. These are only rough estimates and the number may be larger.

Reports of employment certificates issued for children going to work throughout the country give an indication of trends in employment in occupations other than domestic service and agriculture. According to these reports, the number of young persons between 14 and 18 years of age entering employment, either full time or part time, increased more than 100 per cent in 1941 over 1940 and increased 62 per cent in the first six months of 1942 as compared with the corresponding period of 1941. While three-fourths or more of these young persons are probably in the upper age brackets — that is, 16 or 17, recent reports indicate that the percentage of increase for the 14- and 15-year-old children is rising.

Federal Legislation Affecting Child Labor.

The child-labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 have been of great value in maintaining basic standards for the protection of children in industry, particularly in upholding a 16-year minimum age for factory employment. Though these provisions apply only to the work of children and young persons under 18 years of age in establishments producing goods for shipment in interstate commerce, they affect most factory work because the large majority of manufacturing establishments in this country ship goods in interstate commerce.

The cooperative program with the states in administration of this act, carried on by the Children's Bureau of the U. S. Department of Labor, has also aided in the upholding of state child-labor standards. Employment or age certificates issued under state law are accepted as proof of age under the Fair Labor Standards Act in 44 of the 48 states, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. The Federal certificate systems in four states — Idaho, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Texas — are carried on with the cooperation and assistance of state and local officials. Because the unprecedented increase in the number of young workers has made very heavy demands upon already overburdened certificate-issuing officials, the assistance of Children's Bureau representatives in working out methods of meeting emergencies has helped to prevent a breakdown of this system that plays so great a part in maintenance of child-labor standards.

The regulations under this act for employment in nonmanufacturing and nonmining occupations were modified by permitting, for the duration of the war, the employment of children 14 and 15 years of age in the cutting of pears, peaches, and apricots in dry yards outside school hours and under conditions protecting their health and well-being.

In connection with the enforcement of the wage-and-hour provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, an advance has been made in the prohibition of industrial homework — a system of industrial production that has always involved the use of child labor. In order to prevent evasion of the established minimum wage, prohibitory homework regulations have been issued by the Wage and Hour Division for five industries (jewelry, gloves and mittens, knitted outerwear, apparel, and buttons and buckles) and are under consideration for two others. This policy, together with increased activity through prohibitory rulings under state industrial homework legislation and the child-labor prohibitions under the Fair Labor Standards Act, will go far toward eliminating this industrial practice.

The regulation of the employment of minors under the Public Contracts Act has assumed especial importance during this past year because of the great increase in the production of war materials for the Government. This act sets up conditions of employment including a minimum age of 16 for boys and 18 for girls, to be complied with by all employers producing goods under contract for the United States in any amount exceeding $10,000. In November 1942, at the request of the Federal departments most concerned with war production, the Secretary of Labor, under power given by the act, reduced the minimum age for employment of girls from 18 to 16, setting up certain special safeguards as to hours and conditions of employment of girls between 16 and 18. As 16 years is the minimum for boys under this act and for both boys and girls under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the establishment of a uniform minimum age under both acts will prevent confusion and difficulty of administration in the many factories subject to both laws.

State Legislation Affecting Child Labor.

In Louisiana and in Puerto Rico new child-labor laws that meet the standards of the more progressive states were enacted in 1942. These acts establish a basic 16-year minimum age, replacing a 14-year minimum, require employment certificates up to 18 years of age, and establish standards for work in street trades. They extend protection to minors of 16 and 17 in dangerous employment by setting a minimum age of 18 years for work in a considerable number of hazardous occupations, and set up the procedure for designating other occupations hazardous.

In contrast to these advances there has been considerable pressure during the past two years to relax standards, a pressure which has been for the most part resisted successfully. In one state new legislation reduced from 18 to 16 the minimum age for employment of pin boys in bowling alleys, and two laws were passed reducing standards for children in public performances. Other laws have relaxed standards for farm work. Administrative rulings in a few states have permitted longer hours than provided by statute for minors under 18, none however allowing more than 48 hrs. a week; in a few states the minimum age for employment in bowling alleys or as messengers has been lowered.

A number of states, however, in passing legislation permitting the relaxation or suspension of standards, have especially safeguarded the young worker under 18 years of age. For instance, the N. Y. State War Emergency Act and the Louisiana War Emergency Dispensation Act expressly provide that no exception shall be granted for minors under 18.

National Standards for Child-Labor Protection.

Standards formulated and urged by Federal agencies have been of considerable influence toward the maintenance of good child-labor conditions, even though without the force of law. When, early in 1942, greatly increased production of war materials and more continuous operation of existing plants became essential, the Secretary of Labor called a conference of representatives of Federal departments and of State labor departments in the States most important in the war production effort to discuss means of meeting the problem. The result was an agreement by these agencies on a statement of national policy which pointed out that, although during a period of adjustment some modification of hours of labor standards would be necessary, these modifications should be reduced to a minimum in the interests of long-time maximum production, and that there must be no relaxation of standards governing employment of minors under 16.

The Ninth National Conference on Labor Legislation, composed of representatives of State labor law enforcing agencies, State Federations of labor and industrial union councils, in making recommendations at its annual meeting in November 1942, called attention to the necessity for careful planning and guidance in the employment of 14- to 18-year-old youth, for adherence to the principles that no children under 14 should be part of the hired labor force and none under 16 should be employed in manufacturing, and that young persons 16 and 17 years of age whose work is essential should be placed only in work suited to their age and capacity.

Employment of Children in Agriculture.

Employment of children in agriculture, long recognized as a major child-labor problem in this country because of employment of young children and because of bad living and working conditions, has been made more serious by labor scarcity and the need for greater food production. Organized programs to employ nonfarm youth under 18 years of age were widespread in the spring, summer and fall of 1942, and school children and youth played a significant part in bringing to a successful conclusion the harvesting of many crops.

These programs were concerned chiefly with recruitment and placement and in general too little responsibility was taken for protection of the welfare of the children themselves. Much of the employment was during the school vacation, but a great deal of it has involved release of children from school. Two states, New York and New Jersey, permit children 14 years of age and over to be excused for work in agriculture for 30 and 15 days respectively, and in a number of other states provision has been made for release of school children for farm work through executive or administrative orders. In only one state, New Jersey, is there a definitely centralized responsibility under statute for seeing that certain standards are maintained for employment of school children as emergency farm workers. Efforts to safeguard the young worker from exploitation and excessive interruption of school have varied greatly and have often been inadequate, particularly as regards supervision both on the job and outside of working hours and as regards sanitary conditions. Though some attempts have been made to adhere to a 14-year minimum age, many children of 12 and 13 years and even younger have been employed.

Standards to safeguard the health and welfare of young emergency farm workers have been developed and promoted by the Children's Bureau of the U. S. Department of Labor in cooperation with other Federal, state and private agencies. These standards, or guides for action, are concerned with recruitment, placement, working conditions, health, and supervision of these workers, and, where they live away from home, with living conditions and supervision of health and outside-work activities. In addition they deal with methods of state and local community planning to see that these standards are adapted to individual situations and put into effect. An outline of general policies,* prepared in consultation with the U. S. Office of Education, the U. S. Department of Agriculture, and the U. S. Employment Service, has been issued by the Bureau. A continuing working relationship with representatives of agencies, governmental and private, that are concerned with the welfare of the youth called upon to fill these labor shortages and with the production needs that they are to help satisfy, has been developed to promote successful programs.

* Policies on Recruitment of Young Workers for Wartime Agriculture, March 1942, Children's Bureau, U. S. Department of Labor, Washington.

Minors in Hazardous Occupations.

The war-production program has increased industrial accidents as well as exposures to industrial poisons. Fatigue caused by long hours, constant attention, and the rapid pace of production, predisposes workers to both disease and accident. For these reasons special attention has been given by the Children's Bureau of the U. S. Department of Labor to measures to protect young workers in the present emergency.

In pursuance of the power given by the Fair Labor Standards Act, and after investigation and a public hearing, an order was issued by the Chief of the Bureau establishing in effect a minimum age of 18 for employment in occupations involving exposure to radioactive substances. The Bureau is also developing standards as to types of employment suitable for young workers of 16 and 17 in war industries and promoting their voluntary observance by employers. These advisory standards give information on the hazards of the occupations to which they relate, suggest the types of work in which 16- and 17-year-old persons may be employed with comparative safety, and point out the types of work from which they should be excluded. Standards have already been issued dealing with shipbuilding, lead and lead-using industries, welding occupations, and employments involving exposure to chlorinated solvents and to carbon disulphide. Additional standards will be issued from time to time covering occupations and industries in which young workers are likely to be employed in increasing numbers.

Child Labor in Great Britain.

Hours of employment for young persons between 14 and 18 years of age are regulated by the Factories Act of 1937 and Emergency Orders issued thereunder by the Ministry of Labour and National Service.* The basic standard is a maximum 9-hour day and 44-hour week for children 14 and 15 years of age, and a 9-hour day and 48-hour week for boys and girls 16 and 17 years of age and all women, with certain provisions for overtime work. The Emergency Exemptions permitted by the Act have inevitably been invoked during this war period.

* Before the establishment of the Ministry of Labour and National Service, Emergency Orders were issued by the Secretary of State. These orders apply to building operations or works of engineering construction undertaken by or on behalf of the Crown, factories belonging to the Crown and all work in any factories done on behalf of the Crown. Order No. 59 of the Defense (General Regulations) Act also permits modifications of legislative restrictions.

Under the General Emergency Order for Engineering and Certain other Classes of Works, which covered the requirements of the majority of factories in which emergency modifications of the Factories Act were needed,* establishments may obtain special permission to employ young persons between 16 and 18 years of age and women up to 60 hrs. a week and children 14 and 15 up to 48 hrs. a week. The number of permissions under this order in the early part of 1942 showed an increase on the figures for 1940, being 9,129 as compared with 5,493. This increase appears to be largely due to the wider spreading of war work and to the gradual substitution of women and young persons for men in industry. In 434 of these permissions a system of three shifts was allowed and in 532 a system of two day shifts between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. was allowed. In the remaining 8,163 permissions, extensions or rearrangements of the day work hours or a system of two day and night shifts was allowed.

* General Emergency Order of May 31, 1941, extended until further notice by General Emergency Order of Apr. 28, 1942.

Information obtained by the chief inspector of factories from approximately 10,000 factories that had such emergency permissions indicated that early in 1942 the permitted hours in the majority of cases were not more than 55, and the tendency since that time has been toward shorter hours. However, in some factories, women or young persons were employed for 60 or nearly 60 hrs. a week.

An order of Jan. 23, 1942,* authorized district inspectors of factories to permit in all types of factories the extension of hours of work for young persons between 16 and 18 and women above the statutory limit, but not to exceed 55 hrs. a week. Not more than 10½ hrs. may be worked on any week day, and Saturday hours are limited to 5 or such greater number, not to exceed 8, as may be specially sanctioned by the district inspector. For children under 16, the district inspector may permit lengthening of the statutory 44-hr. work week but not above 48 hrs.

* Hours of Day Work in Factories (Women and Young Persons) Order of Jan. 23, 1942.

The large increase in the factory population and in the number of inexperienced workers in the munitions factories has caused a general rise in industrial accidents. In 1941, accidents to boys under 18 increased 21 percent as compared with 1938 and accidents to girls under 18 increased 24 percent.

The employment of children in agriculture under the Children and Young Persons Act of 1933, is prohibited under the age of 12, and the work of children on school days is limited to 2 hrs. after school. Before the war, under power given by the Act, many local school authorities had raised this minimum age to 13. Regulation of hours of employment on holidays varied from 4 hours a day and 24 hours a week to 6, 7, or 8 hrs. a day. These provisions were modified by an order in council dated Apr. 30, 1942, permitting school authorities to exempt from school attendance children of 12 and over, under certain safeguards, to help with urgent agricultural work if other labor is not available. Absences are limited to 10 full or 20 half school days a year, with maximum working hours of 7 hrs. on full days, 4 hrs. when a half day is spent in school, and with a break of at least one hour after not more than 4 hrs. of work. No further exemptions may be granted except upon permission of His Majesty's inspectors.

Child Labor in Other Countries.

Very little information can be obtained on child-labor conditions in countries other than the United States and Great Britain. Such information as is available emphasizes acute shortages of manpower and need for greater production, both of munitions and of agricultural products. The fact that practically no publicity has been given to special safeguards for young workers is probably significant of the extreme pressures that have drawn upon both young and adult workers.

In Germany, according to a report carried by American newspapers, in the summer of 1942 children 10 years of age and over would be sent in platoons to camps in farm areas, to be put to work as hired farm hands. In April 1942, the Government of the Soviet Union ordered the employment of children 12 to 16 years of age belonging to families of collective farmers for at least 50 full days a year. As a part of a general mobilization for farm work, the employment of children 14 to 18 years of age on farm work in the care of teachers during the spring and summer vacations of 1942 was also ordered. The working day was to be limited to between 6 and 8 hours.

1941: Child Labor

In the countries directly in the war zone, the spread and increasing intensity of war conditions during the past year, with the ever-increasing need for greater production of both war materials and food products, has in general resulted in a lowering of labor standards, including those for young workers. This was not true, for the most part, in the United States which, although engaged in a large-scale defense program during the year, did not enter the war until December 1941. With the entrance of the United States into the war, however, the acute need for increased production is bringing pressure for relaxation of labor standards. Nevertheless, in the face of this demand and of this pressure, there are encouraging signs of public recognition of the importance of protecting children and youths from premature and harmful employment.

Despite the war, a noteworthy step in the framing of a future international policy that will help to raise the level of labor conditions for all workers was taken by the Conference of the International Labor Organization held in New York in October and November 1941. In this Conference, which was the first to be held since the beginning of the war, 35 nations, two-thirds of the member countries, participated. The keynote of the Conference was post-war planning. Its discussions and the resolutions adopted by the accredited representatives of employers, workers, and governments outlined a broad social program for the well-being of the peoples of all countries, to be promoted by cooperative international action. This declaration of social policy included improvement of conditions of work, elimination of unemployment, adoption of minimum-wage standards and of measures for better nutrition and adequate housing, establishment of machinery for vocational training and placement — all matters directly affecting the welfare of young workers.

Child Labor in the United States.

The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

In the United States, a milestone in the field of child-labor protection was set by the decision of the United States Supreme Court upholding the constitutionality of the Fair Labor Standards Act. This decision, which was without dissent, was handed down on Feb. 3, 1941, in the case of United States v. Darby Lumber Co. et al. The Court expressly overruled the case of Hammer v. Dagenhart, which in 1918 had declared the first Federal child-labor law unconstitutional, and removed all doubt as to the validity of child-labor regulation based on the power of Congress to regulate interstate and foreign commerce.

The Fair Labor Standards Act, the first Federal law regulating child labor to receive the sanction of the United States Supreme Court, had entered upon its third year of enforcement with general public approval and had been established on a sound administrative basis, when it was held constitutional. This decision was particularly timely in view of the expansion in production in this country and the corresponding increase in the use of young workers.

The Federal Act, in addition to dealing with minimum-wage and maximum-hour standards for workers of all ages in interstate industries, establishes, in effect, a basic minimum age of 16 for employment in establishments covered by the child-labor provisions, that is, those producing goods shipped in interstate or foreign commerce. It also sets up machinery for establishing by administrative orders an 18-year minimum-age standard for employment in especially hazardous occupations.

The Children's Bureau of the United States Department of Labor, in carrying out its duty of administration of these child-labor provisions, has continued its three-fold program — preventive, punitive, and regulatory. First, the Bureau aims to make certificates of age, which protect employers from unintentional violation of the act, available for employed minors throughout the country; second, in cooperation with the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor, it carries on inspections of establishments to bring about compliance with the child-labor provisions of the act and, if necessary, institutes legal action; and third, it finds and determines occupations especially hazardous for minors between 16 and 18 years of age.

Emphasis has continued to be placed on cooperative relationships with state labor and education departments, and with local employment-certificate-issuing officials, for making certificates of age available as proof of age for employers of minors in industries under the act. The cooperating group of states and territories in which state certificates are accepted as proof of age under the Federal act has been enlarged by the addition of Louisiana, Nevada, and Puerto Rico. In only 4 states is it now necessary to provide for the issuance of Federal certificates. In Alaska, plans for working out a certification program are under way.

The protection of young workers from hazardous employment is especially important in this period of accelerated production when industrial accidents are reported to be on the increase. By the same token, health hazards are also likely to become more serious. Hazardous-occupations orders issued during the year, establishing in effect a minimum age of 18 for employment, cover (1) all occupations in logging and, with certain exceptions, all occupations involved in the operation of any sawmill, lath mill, shingle mill, or cooperage-stock mill; and (2) occupations involved in the operation of power-driven woodworking machines. In addition, investigations necessary as a basis for orders dealing with shipbuilding occupations and occupations involving exposure to radioactive substances have been completed.

State Legislation.

Few advances were made in state legislation in the 43 state legislatures that met in regular session in 1941. Many amendments aimed to improve existing child-labor standards were defeated, and bills which would have broken down existing standards were introduced. Nevertheless, some advances were made and opposition to bills weakening present standards was in most instances successful.

In Florida, a complete revision of the child-labor law establishes a basic minimum age of 16 years for employment and an 18-year minimum age for employment in many hazardous occupations. This brings to 14 the number of states with a 16-year minimum-age standard. In Hawaii, an important aid in administration was put into effect by raising from 16 to 18 the age up to which employment certificates are required. New Jersey strengthened its regulation of industrial home work by requiring employers using home workers to obtain permits and pay an annual graduated fee and by requiring home workers to obtain certificates. No such certificate may be issued to a minor under 16 years of age.

Extent of Child Labor in the United States.

The report of the 1940 decennial census giving information about many aspects of the population, including employment data, has been awaited with great interest. Its preliminary figures show 213,104 children of 14 and 15 years and 677,872 of 16 and 17 years actually employed during the last week of March 1940. A much larger number (1,302,652 between 14 and 18 years of age) were in the 'labor force,' a group that includes, in addition to persons employed, those seeking work or engaged on Government emergency projects established for the unemployed. No data showing the occupations in which these young people were engaged are as yet available.

These figures, when compared with those of the 1930 census, indicate a striking decrease in child employment during the decade, particularly in employment of children 14 and 15 years of age. Such a decrease had been expected because during the depression there had been fewer job opportunities for children as well as for adults, and because child-labor standards under both Federal and state laws had strikingly advanced during the ten years from 1930 to 1940.

The census figures do not, however, give a complete picture of child employment. For one reason, the census in both 1930 and 1940 was taken in the early spring with the inevitable result that many children usually employed in agriculture in the summer and autumn months were not included. The 1940 census is also incomplete because it collected no data for working children under 14, and it is known that large numbers of such children are engaged in industrialized agriculture, as well as in street trades and industrial home work.

Before it was possible to compile and publicize these census figures, the actual situation as to employed youth had undergone drastic change. Since the early months of 1940, mounting production due to the defense program has brought about greatly increased employment of boys and girls 16 and 17 years of age and, along with this, a less pronounced but significant rise in the employment of children under 16. The younger children are going chiefly into nonfactory jobs; for instance, as errand and delivery boys, newspaper and magazine distributors, curb-hops, garage helpers, stock boys and salesgirls in stores, delivery workers for stores, domestic service workers, and farm laborers — employment on the whole less regulated by law than factory work.

While the general effect of this opening of work opportunities has been to give much needed employment to unemployed young persons, it has also created new child-labor problems, both in relation to children under 16 who are going to work when a forward-looking public policy recognizes the importance of their remaining in school, and in relation to possible employment of minors of 16 and 17 years under unfavorable conditions.

Child Labor Outside the United States.

Great Britain.

In Great Britain, the first effect of the war was an excessive lengthening of working hours in the munitions factories. Many exemptions were granted to the Factory Act, governing employment of minors and women, and later, under the extreme pressures consequent on the fall of France in May 1940, control of their hours, as well as those of other workers, appears to have been entirely relaxed. Though the immediate effect of the longer hours of work was a large increase in output, this policy was soon recognized as destructive of its desired ends. Indeed, over any considerable period the strain of excessive hours resulted in increased lost time from sickness, exhaustion, and other causes, a lowered production level, and a reduction in hourly output. Reduction in working hours was urged by the Ministry of Labour and National Service, which announced that the provisions of the Factory Act, subject only to Emergency Orders, would be fully enforced, and a Factory and Welfare Advisory Board, with the Minister as chairman, was set up to frame policies.

British Dominions.

In the Dominion of Canada, employment opportunities for young persons, as well as older workers, have been expanding during the year. In recognition of the close relation of school-attendance laws to child-labor standards, it may be noted that several legislative changes in this field were made in the provincial laws. In New Brunswick, where school attendance previously had been compulsory only in a few towns, a new law effective July 1, 1941, makes attendance of children up to 14 years of age compulsory throughout the province and prohibits the employment of a child of school age during school hours unless he has completed the eighth grade or unless, in the opinion of the school inspector, he should be exempted from further attendance. In Prince Edward Island, where attendance in rural districts under the former law had been required for only 60 per cent of the school term, attendance in such districts was made compulsory for 75 per cent of the term. In Alberta, attendance of a child under 15 years of age has been made compulsory until he has completed the ninth grade or its equivalent, instead of the eighth.

In the Union of South Africa, an important advance was made in child-labor legislation through a new law raising the basic minimum age for employment in factories from 14 to 15 years. The same law contains also measures for the better protection of the health of workers of all ages.

India.

The Bombay Shops and Establishments Act which became operative in November 1940, prohibits the employment in shops of children under 12, fixes closing hours, and limits hours of work. One effect of this act was to remove from employment in restaurants some 2,000 children under 12 years of age. A similar act received the assent of the Governor of the Province of Sind in December 1940.

British Colonies and Dependencies.

In British Honduras, a basic minimum age of 14 was established for employment of children by an ordinance put into effect in November 1940, exemptions being provided for children between 12 and 14 years of age employed outside school hours; in the West Indian Colony of St. Vincent (Windward Islands), employment of children under 14 was prohibited in September 1940, except in certain work for parents outside school hours; in Northern Rhodesia (South Africa), a general minimum age of 12 years for admission to employment was established in the latter part of 1940.

Continental Europe.

Almost no information on the subject of child employment is available from the countries of continental Europe. In Germany, an order issued in September 1940 prohibited employment of both girls and boys under 18 at furnaces and at grinding work of any kind and required physical examinations of all workers in certain hazardous occupations, including those involving exposure to lead.

In Switzerland, the use of children in industrial home work is affected by a Federal act, dated Dec. 12, 1940, requiring the posting of schedules of rates of pay for home workers, prohibiting children under 15 years of age from being employed as home workers on their own account, and prescribing certain conditions for giving out home work that are calculated to prevent work at night or on Sundays and public holidays.

Latin American Countries.

Among the Latin American countries, Brazil enacted the most important child-labor legislation of the year. The new law was based on the report of the special commission appointed by the government in 1940 to study existing legislation and make recommendations looking toward bringing the child labor law into line with the draft conventions agreed upon by the International Labor Conferences. Enacted Sept. 13, 1941, and effective Jan. 1, 1942, it amplifies and gives greater force to the child-labor provisions of previous legislation and of the Federal Constitution of 1937, which had approved the principle of a 14-year minimum age for employment. In the new law, 14 years remains the basic minimum age, but the exemptions for economic need allowed in previous legislation are eliminated. The standards apply both to industrial occupations and to nonindustrial occupations other than agriculture, exempting domestic service and workshops which employ exclusively members of the child's family and in which the child works under the parent's direction. The law does not directly cover farm work except when industrial processes are used, but subsequent regulations may be made to determine whether or not other kinds of agricultural labor will be covered.

An important aid in the administration of the law is made by the provision requiring employment certificates for all children between 14 and 18 years of age going to work. To obtain such a certificate the child must present to the issuing officer proof of age, parent's authorization for his employment, physician's certificate of physical fitness, proof of literacy, his photograph, and a statement from the employer as to the kind of work that the child is to do. Formerly the law required that certain of these papers be presented by the child to the employer, but there was no issuance by a public official. These certificates are to be issued in the Federal District by the Bureau of Labor of the National Department of Labor, Industry, and Commerce and in the States by the regional offices of that Department. It is provided that the same officials shall enforce the law. See also CHILD WELFARE.

1940: Child Labor

The general picture of child labor in 1940 throughout the world was to a considerable extent colored by the European war. In the countries most acutely affected, the urgent need for increased production for national defense has in general resulted in a lowering of child-labor standards along with other labor standards.

The International Labour Office has continued to maintain its essential activities despite war conditions, but in August 1940 its personnel was transferred temporarily to Canada, because communication and transportation had become so difficult that its work could no longer be carried on efficiently from Geneva. The only action on any child-labor convention reported during the year was the ratification by China in February 1940 of the convention setting a basic minimum age of 15 in industrial undertakings.

Great Britain and the Dominions.

An important advance in child-labor standards in Great Britain, the raising of the school-leaving age from 14 to 15 years, was prevented by the onslaught of the war. By special act of Parliament, the operation of the Education Act of 1936, which would have put this standard into effect on Sept. 1, 1939, was suspended. The war emergency also led to the granting of temporary exemptions, permitting employment up to 48 hours a week, from the provision of the Factories Act, which had reduced the weekly hours of work for children under 16 years of age from 48 to 44. The number of these exemptions, however, was greatly decreased during 1940, and the law reducing hours of work of young persons in shops to 44 per week came into force on Jan. 1, 1940. As regards children leaving school for work, the Minister of Education has urged local education authorities to maintain carefully the protection given to children by existing law and to guard against the risk of excessive employment.

In Canada there have been few changes in child-labor standards. In Manitoba, employment in mines or metallurgic works of boys under 16 above ground and of boys under 18 below ground was prohibited. In Quebec, an Order in Council of March 23, 1940, provided for emergency exemptions from the nightwork prohibition for women and young persons under 18, on approval of the Minister of Labor. The Dominion Government has urged that hours of work should not be unduly extended and that increased output should be obtained if possible by the use of additional shifts.

In British West Africa, a minimum age of 16 has been established for underground work in mines and of 14 for surface occupations.

Continental Europe.

In Switzerland, as in Great Britain, war conditions have retarded an important advance in child-labor standards. Regulations were issued in February 1940 for the administration of the Federal law of 1938, which raised the minimum age for employment of children from 14 to 15 and was to become effective March 1, 1940. However, in 11 of the 22 cantons and in part of the twelfth, the operation of the act was postponed, and even in areas where the law went into effect permission was given for the granting of exemptions allowing children over 14 years of age to work in factories.

In a number of the countries of continental Europe, including France, Germany, and Belgium, general suspension of labor legislation, including restrictions on child labor, were authorized at the beginning of the war. Later orders in Germany have restricted this authorization, and in France instructions issued by the Ministry of Labour recommended to the authorities that the extension of the statutory hours of work for young persons be avoided except in special cases.

Hours of labor for young workers have been lengthened in Italy, the Soviet Union, Rumania, and Turkey. In Italy, where the legal minimum age for employment is 14, the services of children 13 years of age may be requisitioned for occupations essential to the prosecution of war.

Latin America.

Child-labor protection in a number of Latin American countries has advanced along with other child-welfare activities. This advance was stimulated to some extent by the emphasis placed on the needs in this field by the Second Conference of American States, members of the International Labour Organization, meeting in Havana in December 1939.

In Brazil, a commission was appointed by the Minister of Labor to study existing legislation relating to the employment of children and women and to make recommendations for improvement. Street trading by young workers was regulated by a Presidential decree, which prohibited minors under 18 years of age from engaging in street trades on their own account. It also established a minimum age of 14 and provided for the regulation of the hours of labor of children between 14 and 18 who work for an employer in such trades.

The Cuban Constitution adopted in June 1940 reaffirms the child-labor provisions of the existing law, including a 14-year minimum age for employment.

A new Federal law in Mexico, which unifies the educational system on a national basis, makes school attendance compulsory for children up to 15 years of age.

In Chile, the new Ministry of Labor, established in 1940, contains a special unit for the administration of laws relating to the employment of children and women.

The United States.

In the United States there have been significant developments in the administration of the child-labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and in state legislative standards. There has been an increase also in public recognition of certain neglected phases of child labor, particularly the employment of children in industrialized agriculture. Standards for child labor and youth employment were approved at the White House Conference on Children in a Democracy held in January 1940, and follow-up conferences in the states have been held with a view to promoting these standards. A determined effort is being made to maintain the labor standards set by state and Federal laws in spite of the need for increased production in this country for defense purposes, and the Advisory Commission to the Council of National Defense has adopted a statement of labor policy which calls for compliance with all such provisions.

Extent of Child Labor.

The year 1940 will be significant in respect to information on child labor in the United States, as it is the year of the Federal decennial census. The 1940 census, which covers a wider range of information on the entire population of the United States than ever before, should give a comprehensive picture of the extent and nature of employment of children and youth. Tabulations of the data, which were collected in April, are not yet available, however. (See also CENSUS OF THE UNITED STATES, 1940.)

A less comprehensive source of information on child labor for intercensal years is that assembled in connection with the administration of the Federal Social Security Act, passed in 1935, under which records are kept for all persons earning taxable wages subject to the Act. In 1938, the latest year for which data are available by age, the number of workers under 18 years of age, exclusive of those in agriculture and in domestic work in private homes, was over 700,000, of whom approximately 100,000 were under 16 years of age. These figures include, however, young persons still attending school and having part-time jobs, as no distinction is made between full-time and part-time employment. Current reports of employment certificates issued for children going to work, received by the Children's Bureau of the U. S. Department of Labor, though not covering the entire country, give a rough indication of the trends in child labor. These reports show that the number of children under 16 years of age leaving school for work decreased in 1940 in the face of increasing general employment.

Federal Legislation.

The year 1940 was the second year that the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act was in operation. Its child-labor provisions, which are administered by the Children's Bureau of the U. S. Department of Labor, apply to establishments where goods are produced for shipment in interstate or foreign commerce. These provisions in effect prohibit employment of children under 16 years of age, with very limited exemptions for children 14 and 15 years of age in nonmanufacturing and nonmining occupations, and prohibit employment of minors under 18 years in occupations found and declared by the Chief of the Children's Bureau to be especially hazardous.

In the administration of these standards, cooperative relationships between the Children's Bureau and state and local education and labor officials, set up when the Act went into effect, have been further developed. Under this program voluntary compliance by employers is sought through making certificates of age for their young workers available for their protection, and a system of cooperation with stats and local agencies authorized to issue certificates under state child-labor laws is worked out both to provide such certificates and to strengthen the administration of state laws. Standards have been set up for issuing certificates, and state officials, usually the head of the state labor department or the state education department, have agreed to make certificates of age available in 42 states and in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii. Federal certificates are now being issued in 4 states with the assistance and close cooperation of state and local officials, and in the 2 remaining states and in the Territory of Alaska negotiations for cooperation are under way. In carrying out this program definite advances have been brought about in methods of administering state child-labor laws, particularly in state supervision of local employment-certificate issuance.

Under the authority of the Act, which places responsibility in the Children's Bureau for the protection of minors 16 and 17 years of age from hazardous occupations, the Bureau has issued two new orders, applying to employment as drivers of motor vehicles or helpers on such vehicles and to all work in or about coal mines, except in certain specified surface occupations. In these occupations, as well as in all employment in establishments manufacturing explosives or articles containing explosive components, which was the subject of a prohibitive order issued in 1939, a minimum age of 18 is now in effect. These determinations are based on a thorough study of available material, consultation with experts in industrial safety, employers, and employees, and information presented at public hearings. Advisory committees of experts also have been established to assist in developing the program. Investigations of hazards for young workers are now under way in the logging and lumbering, woodworking, and shipbuilding industries.

State Legislation.

The outstanding advance in state legislation in 1940 was made in New Jersey, where amendments to the child-labor law established a basic minimum age of 16 years for employment, a maximum 8-hour day and 40-hour week for minors under 18 years of age, and an 18-year age minimum for work in certain hazardous occupations. Farm work and street trades were also regulated. Nonresident children under 16 were prohibited from working in New Jersey at any time when the law of the state of their residence would require them to be in school.

1939: Child Labor

The year 1939 was notable for progress in the field of child labor in the United States. Not only was it the first full year of administration of the child-labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, but it witnessed also the clearing of the way for ratification of the child-labor amendments as the result of decisions of the United States Supreme Court. Some of the outstanding events of the year are as follows:

Federal Child-Labor Legislation.

The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 was approved June 25, 1938, and went into operation on Oct. 24, 1938. The child-labor provisions of this act have the effect of excluding children under 16 years of age from employment in establishments producing goods for interstate commerce, except the employment of children 14 and 15 years of age at work other than manufacturing and mining if, and to the extent that, the Chief of the Children's Bureau determines that such employment is confined to periods that do not interfere with their schooling and to conditions that do not interfere with their health and well-being. In addition, minors 16 and 17 years of age may not be employed in establishments covered by the act in such occupations as are found and declared by the Chief of the Children's Bureau to be hazardous or detrimental to their health and well-being. Goods produced in establishments in the United States in which children have been employed contrary to these standards within 30 days prior to the removal of such goods from the establishment are prohibited from shipment across state lines or to any foreign country. Child actors in motion pictures or theatrical productions and children employed in agriculture during periods when they are not legally required to attend school are exempted from these provisions.

Although the child-labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act do not affect the whole field of child labor, they do set standards which should effectively remove children under 16 from employment in practically all factories and mines. It is estimated, however, that three-fourths of the working children under 16, exclusive of those in agriculture, domestic service, and street trades, are in local industries that for the most part do not cross state lines and are therefore outside the protection of the child-labor provisions of the Act.

Responsibility for administering the child-labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 was placed in the Children's Bureau, while the wage and hour provisions are administered by the Wage and Hour Division established for the purpose in the Department of Labor. Definite provision is made for cooperation between the Federal administrative agencies and state and local officials dealing with state labor-law administration.

The outstanding achievement of the first year of administration of the child-labor provisions of the act was the establishment of cooperative relationships with state agencies issuing employment certificates for children going to work. The Children's Bureau has endeavored to obtain voluntary compliance of employers with the child-labor provisions of the act by publicizing them widely and by making certificates of age available for their protection. State certificates of age are accepted as proof of age under the child-labor provisions of the act in 41 states and the District of Columbia; in 3 states Federal certificates are being issued; in 4 states employers may protect themselves from unintentional violation of the act by having on file birth certificates or baptismal records for minor employees pending establishment of a system for issuing age certificates.

Inspections to Detect Violation of Law.

In order to avoid duplication, inspectors of the Wage and Hour Division of the Department make general inspections for child labor also and report to the Children's Bureau. Agents of the Children's Bureau have made child-labor inspections on complaint, have conducted inspections in child-employing industries exempted from the wage and hour provisions of the act, and have made spot inspections in certain localities to check on the availability of certificates of age. By the end of October the Bureau's inspectors in these scattered industries or localities had found more than 700 children under 16 years of age illegally employed in establishments producing goods for interstate commerce. One-third of these children were under 14 years of age. When violations were brought to their attention, employers were prompt to dismiss underage children and to avail themselves of the protection of certificates of age for minor workers. Only 5 court cases for child-labor violations were initiated during the year. Three were civil cases resulting in the issuance of perpetual injunctions against shipment of goods in interstate commerce by the firms concerned if they employed children under 16 in the future. The other two cases were criminal prosecutions in which the defendants pleaded guilty and fines were imposed.

Hazardous Occupations.

The first order issued by the Chief of the Children's Bureau under the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 relating to hazardous occupations of minors between 16 and 18 years of age became effective July 1, 1939. The order has the effect of prohibiting shipment or delivery for shipment in interstate commerce of explosives or articles containing explosive components manufactured in any plant in or about which any minor under 18 years of age was employed within the meaning of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The order was issued after an investigation and a public hearing on the proposed finding and order. Hearings were held also during the year on a proposed finding and order to become effective Jan. 1, 1940, declaring the occupations of motor-vehicle driver and helper on motor vehicles to be particularly hazardous for employment of minors under 18. A study of the hazards of coal-mining occupations was begun during the year.

Acting on the recommendation of the Chief of the Children's Bureau, the Secretary of Labor appointed an Advisory Committee on Occupations Hazardous for Minors to advise with the Bureau concerning development of policy in this field. A meeting of the committee was held at the Children's Bureau October 13, 1939.

Children in Industrialized Agriculture.

The Jones-Costigan Act of 1934, amending the Agricultural Adjustment Act, was the first Federal law to offer opportunity for bettering labor conditions in the beet fields, where children have long been used for hand processes in sugar-beet culture. This amendment made sugar beets and sugar cane basic commodities under the Agricultural Adjustment Act, and the production-control contracts entered into by the Government with sugar-beet growers provided that the producer should not employ any child under 14 years of age and limited working hours of children between 14 and 16 to 8 a day, children on their parents farms being exempted. The AAA production-control contracts were invalidated by the United States Supreme Court in 1935.

There was no further opportunity for Federal action in this sphere until the enactment of the Sugar Act of 1937, which contains practically the same child-labor standards as those incorporated in the production-control contracts under the Jones-Costigan Act. The Secretary of Labor recommended to the Secretary of Agriculture that some program be worked out to provide for certificates of age as an administrative method of checking on compliance with the child-labor provisions. The services of the Children's Bureau were offered, and in the spring of 1939 a demonstration program for making certificates of age available for children employed by beet growers in Michigan and Ohio was worked out in cooperation with the State departments of education and labor in these states. The issuance procedure follows in general that set up under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

State Child-Labor Legislation.

During 1939, real advances in child-labor standards were made in a few jurisdictions. The most important of these consisted in the further extension of the basic minimum age of 16 years for general employment, in extending protection to minors from employment in hazardous occupations and in strengthening provisions relating to employment certificates, hours of labor, and compulsory-school-attendance standards. Two states, West Virginia and Massachusetts, adopted a basic minimum age of 16 for employment bringing to 12 the number of states with this standard. Hawaii and Alaska also adopted minimum age legislation, the Hawaii Act providing a basic minimum age of 16 for employment, while the Alaska law, although applying only to girls, set a 16-year minimum age in mercantile and industrial business. West Virginia strengthened the protection afforded minors from employment in hazardous occupations by raising the minimum age from 16 to 18 and by extending the list of prohibited occupations. It also prohibited employment under 18, instead of 16 as formerly, in any occupation determined after hearing to be injurious or dangerous. Laws strengthening or clarifying existing provisions for the issuance of employment or age certificates were passed in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Florida, and West Virginia, and Hawaii provided for the first time for the issuance of employment certificates for minors under 16 years of age. Certain advances were made also in regulation of hours of work of minors, the most important being the adoption by West Virginia and Hawaii of a maximum 40-hour week for minors under 16 years of age. In the field of compulsory school attendance, Florida and West Virginia materially strengthened their compulsory-school-attendance standards, and North Carolina raised the upper age for compulsory school attendance in Buncombe County from 14 to 16.

Child-Labor Amendment to the Constitution.

Twenty-eight states have ratified the child-labor amendment, which would empower Congress to limit, regulate, and prohibit the labor of persons under 18 years of age. The amendment was submitted by Congress to the states for ratification in 1924 after two Federal child-labor laws had been declared unconstitutional.

On June 5, 1939, the United States Supreme Court decided two cases dealing with the present status of the amendment: Coleman v. Miller (59 Sup. Ct. 972) and Chandler v. Wise (59 Sup. Ct. 992). These cases involved ratification of the amendment by the Kansas and Kentucky legislatures. In both these cases the ratification had been questioned on two grounds: (1) that the amendment had lost its vitality by reason of the lapse of time between its submission in 1924 and ratification by the State in 1938; and (2) that the legislature of each of these States had previously rejected the amendment. These arguments were not sustained by the United States Supreme Court, which held that these were political questions not subject to court review. As a result, the Kansas and Kentucky ratifications stand, and the amendment is still open for ratification. See also UNITED STATES: Supreme Court Decisions.

Trend of Employment.

Reports on employment certificates issued to children have been collected by the Children's Bureau from state and local officials since 1920. Because of the importance of the employment-certificate system in the administration of the child-labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 arrangements were made for expanding the reporting areas, especially those reporting on minors 16 and 17 years of age. By Oct. 30, 1939, reports were being received from 9 states. Although reports of employment certificates do not give a complete count of children entering into gainful employment they constitute a significant index of extent and trend of such employment.

During 1938, the latest calendar year for which figures are available, two factors which in the past have resulted in a decrease in the employment of children — declining industrial activity and legal regulation — were operative. The index of employment in manufacturing industries in the reporting area dropped from 105.8 in 1937 to 86.8 in 1938. The basic 16-year minimum-age provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act became effective Oct. 24, 1938, and this tended during the latter half of the year to discourage the employment of children under 16 in industries producing goods for interstate commerce. In both years there was a decrease of approximately 37 per cent in the number of first certificates issued for children 14 and 15 years of age in the states and cities reporting to the Bureau, the number dropping from 11,701 in 1937 to 7,431 in 1938.

International Child-Labor Standards.

The International Labor Conference held in Geneva in June 1939 unanimously approved recommendations concerning vocational and technical education and apprenticeship. All countries indicated a real desire to reorganize vocational training on a basis of principles better adapted to present industrial requirements.

In Great Britain the Education Act of 1936, providing for raising the school-leaving age from 14 to 15 years, with exemptions for 'beneficial employment' and which was to have become operative Sept. 1, 1939, was suspended by an emergency bill passed by Parliament, Oct. 10, 1939. In an effort to counteract to some extent what was admitted to be a backward step, the Board of Education set up a new body called the National Youth Committee to safeguard the educational and recreational interests of young workers between the ages of 14 and 18 years.

The Second Conference of American States Members of the International Labor Organization, held in Havana, Cuba, in 1939, included in its agenda the examination of the effect given to resolutions of the First Conference at Santiago regarding work of women and children. The Director of the Industrial Division of the Children's Bureau was appointed technical adviser to the United States delegation to the Havana Conference. The Conference adopted a report setting 15 years as the minimum age at which children should be permitted to work.

1938: Child Labor

The outstanding event of the year in the field of child labor in the United States was the enactment of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. This Act not only marks the beginning of a new basis for advanced child-labor standards throughout the country, but will raise the standard of living for underpaid and overworked labor through its minimum-wage and maximum-hour provisions.

Progress was made also in improving state child-labor laws in the nine states where regular legislative sessions were held.

Trends in Employment.

Reports on employment certificates issued for children, which have been collected by the Children's Bureau from state and local officials since 1920, reveal a general correspondence between the trend in employment of children under 16 and the trend in industrial activity, except where state or Federal legislation has established a 16-year minimum for entrance into gainful employment.

In the first six months of 1937, a period of generally increasing employment opportunities, there was an increase of 20 per cent over the first six months of 1936 in the number of first regular employment certificates issued for 14 and 15-year-old children in areas reporting to the Children's Bureau, where the legal minimum-age standard had not been raised to 16 years, whereas, in the last six months of 1937 there was a drop of 16 per cent over the same period in 1936 — a trend corresponding roughly to the downward movement in general business conditions. The total number of first regular employment certificates issued in 1937 for 14 and 15-year-old children in these areas was 1 per cent less than the total in 1936 — 10,081 in 1937 as compared with 10,205 in 1936. Figures for 1938 are not yet available.

State Legislation.

The most significant advances during 1938 in state laws relating to employment of children were the hour laws enacted in South Carolina, Louisiana, and Virginia. These laws, which regulate hours of work either for all employees or for women employees, have the effect of shortening working hours for minors. South Carolina also passed a law prohibiting night employment of minors under 18, between 10 P.M. and 6 A.M. New York extended the application of the 8-hour day, 44-hour week, and 6-day week to minors under 16 employed in beauty parlors. Improvements were also made in the New York street-trades laws and in the compulsory school attendance laws.

Minimum-wage laws were passed by Kentucky and Louisiana. This makes a total of 25 states having minimum-wage legislation. The Kentucky law applies to women and to minors of both sexes and the Louisiana law, to women and girls.

Three states, Louisiana, Massachusetts, and Virginia, adopted laws authorizing apprentice-training systems on a voluntary basis under state supervision.

Child-labor Amendment.

Two cases were brought before the Supreme Court in 1938 to test the validity of ratification of the child-labor amendment by Legislatures of states where it had been rejected previously. These two cases related to the ratification of the amendment in 1937 by Kansas and by Kentucky. Arguments on the cases were heard by the Supreme Court in October 1938.

The amendment, which would empower Congress to enact legislation regulating or prohibiting the labor of persons under 18 years of age, was submitted by Congress to the states in 1924, after two Federal child-labor laws had been declared unconstitutional. By 1938 it had been ratified by 28 states. Thirty-six ratifications are needed before the amendment becomes operative.

Neither the status of the amendment nor the need for it is changed by the enactment of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which applies only to industries producing goods for shipment in interstate commerce.

Child-labor Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, in addition to setting a floor for wages and a ceiling for hours for all workers in interstate industries, established a national minimum standard for child employment in such industries. The act was approved June 25, 1938, and went into operation on Oct, 24, 1938.

Administration of the Act is vested in the Children's Bureau of the United States Department of Labor, which is responsible for the child-labor provisions, and in the Wage and Hour Division, which was established in the Department of Labor to administer the wage and hour provisions of the act. The Industrial Division of the Children's Bureau, with Beatrice McConnell as director, is being expanded to carry, in addition to its basic function of research, the administrative and research responsibilities that are vested in the Children's Bureau with regard to the employment of minors and the determination of hazardous occupations.

The law excludes children under 16 years of age from employment in all occupations in establishments producing goods for interstate commerce, except the employment of children 14 and 15-years of age at work other than manufacturing or mining, which has been determined by the Chief of the Children's Bureau not to interfere with their schooling, health, or well-being. In addition, it excludes children 16 and 17 years of age from employment in such occupations as may be found and declared by the Chief of the Children's Bureau to be hazardous or detrimental to their health or well-being. Goods produced in establishments in the United States in which children have been employed contrary to these standards, within 30 days prior to the removal of such goods from the establishment, are prohibited from shipment across State lines or to any foreign country. Child actors in motion pictures or theatrical productions, and children employed in agriculture during periods when they are not legally required to attend school, are exempted from these provisions. Definite provision is made for cooperation between the Federal administrative agencies and state and local officials dealing with state labor-law administration.

Child-labor regulations issued by the Chief of the Children's Bureau under the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act are published in the Federal Register as soon as they are issued.

International Child-labor Standards.

The International Labor Office draft convention for maritime employment, fixing at 15 years the minimum age for admission of children to employment on the high seas, was ratified by the United States Senate, June 13, 1938. This applies to all territory over which the United States exercises jurisdiction, except the Philippine Islands and the Panama Canal Zone.

Two conventions adopted at the 1937 session of the International Labor Organization were sent to Congress by the President. These conventions provide for a basic minimum age of 15 years instead of 14 for the employment of children in both industrial and nonindustrial occupations, exclusive of agricultural and maritime work, and for a higher minimum age in occupations that may be determined to be hazardous or unhealthful for young workers. The 15 year standard of the international draft convention, although not so high as the 16-year standard set by the (United States) Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 for productive industries (factories, mines, and so forth) that ship goods in interstate commerce, is higher than the standards now in effect for work in mercantile and other intra-state industries in the large majority of states of the United States.

During 1938, Norway, which had previously enacted legislation raising the minimum age for employment, ratified the convention relating to a 15-year minimum age for employment in industrial occupations: and Switzerland enacted a law raising the minimum age for employment in industry and commerce from 14 to 15 years. No country has yet ratified the convention relating to a 15-year minimum age for employment in nonindustrial occupations.

Great Britain enacted the Young Persons (Employment) Act of 1938, effective Jan. 1, 1939, regulating working hours for young persons under 18 in a range of occupations not previously restricted, and further reducing hours for young persons employed in shops. In France, a decree issued in May 1938 and enforced by factory inspectors, requires children between 14 and 17 employed in industry or commerce to attend vocational courses for not less than 150 hours a year.