LAD Blog #29 Keating-Owen Child Labor Act

  Child labor in America was a rising problem during these times as a result of the poverty of americans so, families needed everyone to work. The working conditions were terrible causing children to work for 10-12 hours a day in unsanitary, dangerous conditions increasing their risk of become injured and even killed. Upon Senator Beveridge's proposal, Congress passed the Keating-Owen Child Labor Act in 1916. Using the federal government's power to regulate interstate commerce, the bill regulated child labor in the factories. The Keating-Owens act was proposed in 1906 and the act "banned the sale of products from any factory, shop, or cannery that employed children under the age of 14, from any mine that employed children under the age of 16, and from any facility that had children under the age of 16 work at night or for more than 8 hours during the day." This act was passed by Woodrow Wilson although it was found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court case Hammer vs. Dagenhart. Eventually the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 was created and is still in effect today.