NEW: Government Watchdog Finds Trump Administration Stopped Collecting Important Data on Child Labor, Enforcement Less Effective

WASHINGTON - Today, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a new report that found the Trump Administration has disbanded an interagency task force created to address child labor. The report also addresses the impact of decades of underfunding of federal research agencies and how it has made it more difficult to prevent child labor.

The report was requested by House Committee on Education and Workforce Ranking Member Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03) to examine the federal government's effort to prevent child labor. The GAO also found significant gaps in federal data on child labor and workplace injuries. This includes limited information on children working in agriculture, even though approximately 75 percent of recorded workplace deaths involving children from 2013 through 2023 occurred in the agriculture sector.

"The GAO report shows that the Trump Administration's upheaval of federal agencies has harmed children. As a result of the Administration's chaos, the federal government's response to child labor lacks coordination, and its enforcement of child labor laws is less effective. Additionally, the cost of slashing budgets at critical research agencies such as the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has led to real harms. The federal government cannot effectively prevent child labor if it does not have the information it needs to know where children are working, if they are being injured, and where the greatest risks exist," said Ranking Member Scott. "That is why I introduced the Protecting Children Act, which would strengthen our ability to collect and use data to better understand the scope of child labor and inform effective enforcement."

The Biden Administration previously responded to a surge in child labor by launching an Inter-Agency Task Force, including the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Justice. After significant staff turnover, the Inter-Agency Task Force disbanded in 2025.

Last year, on World Day against Child Labor, Ranking Member Scott and Workforce Protections Subcommittee Ranking Member Ilhan Omar (MN-05) introduced the Protecting Children Act to finally end child labor in America.

To read the full report, entitled "Child Labor: DOL Action Needed to Better Protect Working Children," click here.

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