In February, the U.S. Department of Labor revealed the outcome of one of the largest child labor investigations in its history. Packers Sanitation Services Inc., a Wisconsin-based company, was found guilty of 102 child labor law violations and agreed to pay a $1.5 million penalty as part of its amends. This investigation unearthed a troubling reality where 31 middle and high school students, aged 13 to 17, were subjected to hazardous work conditions while working overnight shifts at 13 meat-processing facilities across eight states. Some of these young workers suffered injuries on the job. Hazardous work may involve working underground, under water, with dangerous machinery, with dangerous chemicals, substances, or in unhealthy environments.

Since 2018, there has been a 69 % increase in child labor violations nationally. Last year alone, 835 companies were investigated for employing over 3,800 children in violation of labor laws, nearly quadruple the number recorded in 2015. This year, more than 600 new child labor investigations have already been initiated, indicating that the problem is far more extensive than reported.

The Church teaches that child exploitation is a violation of an individual’s dignity, no matter the circumstance. One of the key characteristics of child labor is that it prevents children from attending school or can disrupt regular patterns of attendance and affect performance at school. 

Catholic Social Teaching provides a principled framework to understand and address this pressing issue. Catholic Social Teaching involves seven principles—respect for the human person, promotion of the family, the individual’s right to own property, the common good, subsidiarity, the dignity of work and workers, and the preferential option for the poor—that summarize some of the essentials of the Church from Leo XIII through Francis. Catholic Social Teaching is unequivocal in resolute condemnation of child slavery and child labor, in all their forms. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that “Child labor, in its intolerable forms, constitutes a kind of violence that is less obvious than others but it is not for this reason any less terrible.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 639). 

Child labor goes against the Catholic Social Teaching principles of life and dignity of the human person and option for the poor and vulnerable. Option for the poor and vulnerable is a basic moral test as to how our most vulnerable members are faring; protecting and helping people that need the most help. Catholic Social Teachings are also about how every human life is sacred no matter where you live, what your job is, or how much money you have.

Child labor violates the Church’s teaching of the common good. The common good involves creating conditions where all members of society can flourish. Child labor violations not only harm individual children but also undermine the common good by perpetuating a cycle of poverty and exploitation. When children are forced to work in dangerous conditions, it deprives them of the opportunity to receive an education and develop their full potential, ultimately harming society. Many of the children who are in child labor are trying to help support their families. Some of the children may even have been ‘sold’ by their families. 

Catholic Social Teaching is a call to action, to intervention, whether on a small or large scale. The Church and we ourselves should continue raising public awareness of social issues such as child labor in our private and public lives and to advocate or policies and structures to support children as they grow. 

Our Church’s social teaching has been a resolute condemnation and a commitment to the elimination of child labor. The Catholic Church sees child labor as a moral issue as children are meant to be cared and looked after until their minds and bodies are sufficiently developed, this includes giving them the right of education, food, shelter, and support.