Human Rights

US Child Labor Plays A Part In Cultivating The Tobacco Industry

Laws to outlaw child labor on tobacco farms haven't gotten anywhere.

US Child Labor Plays A Part In Cultivating The Tobacco Industry
Human Rights Watch
SMS

Kids in the U.S. are still working in tobacco fields. 

And they're doing it willingly because they need money

SEE MORE: Businesses Around The World Are Still Profiting From Slave Labor

But working in fields can cause harsh side effects since they're working around nicotine and pesticides. 

"You feel like there's no air. And then you look down, you look beside and then you're only halfway done. And you feel like it's time for us to get out because you feel like you're going to die in there," a child laborer said. 

Several laws have tried to resolve the issue of child labor but received backlash and ultimately didn't get anywhere. 

And even though some companies have banned kids under the age of 16 from working, some groups say that's just made kids travel farther to find employers who will hire them.