Key data missing for half of US child labor deaths, official report finds

Information is missing on over half of deaths at work of people under the age of 18 in the US because of significant gaps in child labor data, according to a government accountability office (GAO) report released on Tuesday.

The report found that between 2013 and 2023, an average of 24 children under the age of 18 died each year due to work-related incidents. Over half of the 260 child fatality cases did not contain detailed data on the cause of death or the industry the child worked in.

Among the 109 fatalities with a reported industry, 75% worked in agriculture. Among the 111 fatalities with a reported cause of death, two-thirds of fatalities were caused by transportation incidents.

The report cited a lack of coordination between agencies as a source of data-collection issues. Since January 2025, the US Department of Labor’s collaboration with other federal agencies to address child labor law violations has “largely diminished”, the GAO found.

Data gaps cited in the report include missing information regarding industry worked and cause of death on the agency’s workplace fatality data. Data collection on working children’s injuries and illnesses changed in 2021, so data cannot be compared with earlier years. A labor department survey and two other federal datasets that included child labor injury data have also ended.

The report found that between fiscal years 2015 and 2025, 59% of child labor law violations involved employers scheduling 14- or 15-year-old children to work longer or later than permitted by federal child labor laws. Sixty-two per cent of child labor violations during this period occurred in the accommodation and food services industry.

It also found that the labor department’s wage and hour division “has not fully addressed” challenges the agency faces in enforcing child labor laws and that since January 2025: “DOL’s collaboration with federal agencies on activities to prevent and detect child labor violations has largely diminished.”

The report was issued in response to a July 2023 request led by the House education and workforce committee ranking member, Bobby Scott of Virginia, for the Government Accountability Office to assess the scope of the issue of child labor in the US, the capacity of government agencies to monitor, research, and enforce child labor laws, and the effectiveness of current efforts to address illegal child labor.

“The GAO report shows that the Trump administration’s upheaval of federal agencies has harmed children,” said Scott.

“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 Scott.

Scott has introduced a bill, the Protecting Children Act, which would improve data collection and usage to inform child labor enforcement.

The report comes as child labor violations in the US have surged over the past decade, 19 states have moved to relax child labor laws since 2021. The number of minors employed in violation of child labor laws in the US increased from 1,012 children in fiscal year 2015 to 5,272 in fiscal year 2025.