Samuel Hoehn: Our teens are willing to work but state laws hinder them

To The Daily Sun,

“You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours.” — Psalm 128:2

As the Granite State reopens, businesses are struggling to find workers. The COVID-19 pandemic is preventing the older people in the state from working.

New Hampshire has plenty of young people who would like to step up and work, but are prohibited under state law. How is the state still engulfed in age discrimination against the youth, even during a pandemic? The Granite State should abolish a few of the archaic “child labor laws.” Child labor often conjures up images of children in a textile mill with horrendous working conditions.

That is not what I am suggesting. The year is 2020, not 1920. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act already protects young people.

New Hampshire could raise the maximum weekly hours, and days per week minors 16 and 17 are permitted to work. Massachusetts allows 48 hours a week six days a week, regardless of if school is in session. New Hampshire allows 48 hours a week six days a week during vacation, but only 30 hours a week six days a week if school is in session.

The Granite State should at least allow minors 16 and 17 as much freedom as their Massachusetts contemporaries have to claim any ownership of the “Live Free or Die” motto. New Hampshire could also raise the maximum weekly hours, and days per week minors 16 and 17 are permitted to work while school is not in session. The argument of restricting hours to keep young people in school does not make sense during the summer.

The Granite State should either raise the 48 hours a week six days a week during vacation or abolish the law outright. Several states within the country do not even have maximum weekly hours, or days per week minors 16 and 17 are permitted to work when school is not in session, including Vermont.

New Hampshire also has a strange night work law that is in need of reform or abolishment. No person under 18 “who works more than two nights in a week past 8 p.m. or before 6 a.m. shall be permitted to work more than eight hours in any shift during that particular week.“ Places of business often require workers either before 6am or past 8 p.m. The law causes scheduling issues. As a result, youth often only receive eight hour shifts or fewer.

Perhaps New Hampshire should consider a revocation of other restrictions on youth employment during a pandemic, as the state already does when at war with another nation.

I would also suggest allowing young people 16 and 17 to vote. The youth who decide to work are paying taxes, but voting is not permitted. That amounts to taxation without representation.

The Granite State should stop age discrimination against young people by easing employment restrictions and restoring voting rights.

Samuel Hoehn

Laconia