Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2024
Publication
Arkansas Law Review
Volume
77
Abbreviation
Ark. L. Rev.
First Page
257
Abstract
This Article examines the resurgence of child labor law rollbacks across the United States and argues that legislators and business‑aligned advocates increasingly deploy the rhetoric of “parental rights” to mask deregulatory efforts that primarily advance industry interests rather than children’s wellbeing or family autonomy. Tracing the historical tension among parental authority, state parens patriae power, and children’s welfare, the Article shows how contemporary invocations of parental rights—echoing arguments used a century ago to resist child labor reforms—operate as political cover for expanding hazardous work, extending hours, and reducing oversight in ways that endanger children and undermine their educational and economic prospects. The authors demonstrate that these measures emerge amid labor shortages and are driven largely by business groups seeking cheaper, more compliant workers, with parental‑rights framings obscuring these motives. The Article concludes by proposing strategies to counter this rhetoric, strengthen enforcement of existing protections, and reassert the state’s long‑recognized role in safeguarding children in a post‑industrial economy.