What is the Child Labor Amendment?
Q: What is the Child Labor Amendment?
A: The Child Labor Amendment is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution that would specifically authorize Congress to regulate "labor of persons under eighteen years of age".
Q: When was the amendment proposed?
A: The amendment was proposed in 1924 following Supreme Court rulings in 1918 and 1922.
Q: How many states ratified it by the mid-1930s?
A: The majority of state governments ratified the amendment by the mid-1930s.
Q: Why has it not been ratified yet?
A: It has not been ratified by the required three-fourths of the states according to Article V of the Constitution, and none of the states have ratified it since 1937.
Q: What caused there to be less interest in ratifying it after 1938?
A: There was not much interest in ratifying it after passage of Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which implemented federal regulation of child labor with Supreme Court's approval in 1941.
Q: Is this amendment still pending before states?
A: Yes, because Congress did not set a time limit for its ratification, this amendment is still technically pending before states.
Q: How many more states need to ratify this amendment for it to become law?
A: Currently, ratification by an additional ten states would be necessary for this amendment to become law.
