It’s a rite of passage for the working-age American teenager: swap out that Funfetti birthday cake and childhood of yours for a pen and a stack of job applications, and go make some (always figurative, sometimes literal) dough. Variations of the exclamation-question combo “oh, happy birthday! So have you gotten a job yet?” follow around the fresh 192-month-old being as they attempt to navigate their newly inhabited reality of participating in Washington-branded capitalism; Cars that have fun genie lamp symbols behind the needles! Calls from military recruiters! Food that’s too expensive for what it is!
But it’s not all fun and games.
The 9th Street McDonald’s in Lockport, a mere five minute drive from LTHS, is currently being sued by the Illinois Attorney General for 550 violations of child labor laws. The lawsuit alleges that children, many of which very likely attended LTHS, worked up to 17 hours straight during the school year and did not have meal or rest breaks.
The latest 2023 data from the BLS suggests that roughly one in five high-schoolers are employed. That means that one out of every five teenagers is not only juggling schoolwork, homework, studying, clubs, sports, and maybe even caring for siblings, but also a part time job on top of all that.
One would intuit from this that capitalism has killed American teenagehood, but that is largely incorrect. Children toiling at the factories was a common sight in the early 20th century, and disgust over the practice helped bring about the regulations which outlaw child labor today.
Working as a teenager has even been heralded by many as a beneficial life experience. A poll by C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital found that 76% of parents reported that their child had better money management skills as a result of working a job. Other benefits cited by parents included improved self-esteem, time-management and social lives.
Behind the shimmer of adult skills and a greater sense of responsibility, however, lies the ugly possibility of corporate abuse. An epidemic of impoverished children working dangerous, exhausting jobs has swept through the nation, especially in slaughterhouses.
A 2023 federal investigation by the Department of Labor uncovered that Packers Sanitation Services Inc. hired 100 children, who were “working with hazardous chemicals and cleaning meat processing equipment including back saws, brisket saws and head splitters.” Similar investigations uncovered wrongdoings by Qvest LLC, who employed 11 children; Fayette Janitorial Service LLC, who employed 24 children; and QSI LLC.
These jobs in particular can be especially dangerous for young people. A New York Times Magazine article from 2023 shared a gruesome account of a 14-year-old immigrant who was maimed while working for Perdue Farms.
And as demonstrated by the lawsuit against McDonald’s, child labor is not just some abstract political issue that is being circulated by national news desks. It is an active problem that is harming the teens of Lockport, all the while corporate profits continue to accumulate.
And even with a net income of $8.56 billion for 2025, that lawsuit would only ding the Golden Arches a mere $2.1 million. Civil penalties for Packers Sanitation Service Inc. reached only $1.5 million – $15,138 for each minor-aged employee. Qvest LLC only had to pay $171,919 in civil penalties.
These aren’t punishments in any sense – they’re rounding errors. With such small fines, there is no incentive for corporations to ensure that the teens they hire are being treated with the fairness and dignity they deserve. The penalties paid for disrupting a child’s life during extremely formative years simply become the cost of doing business.
Teen employment is not evil. It does indeed hold many positive benefits for those who choose to flip burgers or box pizzas while learning about the intricacies of trigonometry. But without proper oversight and more stringent punishments, corporations will continue to line their pockets with the fruits of labor made by exploited, exhausted, and underpaid teenagers.
