Amish Seek Exemption From Child Labor Laws

pstrongHR 221 Faces Senate Vote/strong/p pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby PNN/p pAmish families in Pennsylvania are seeking to rewrite laws concerning child labor. Traditional family life for the Amish includes work for children. Religious and secular education ends at the age of 14 for the Amish; This is the age that Amish youth are expected to become productive members of society. /p pFederal law prevents children under 16 from working at manufacturing jobs, and children under 18 from working under certain types of hazardous conditions./p pMany Amish communities rely on sawmills and other manufacturing plants as cornerstones of their economy. The Justice Department prosecuted several people for allowing youth to work in plants./p pThe Amish have been lobbying for a change in the laws. HR 221 provides a waiver for Amish children from current child labor laws. It passed in the House of Representatives on March 2, 1999 and now faces a Senate vote. /p pSupporters of the bill feel that it promotes the Amish tradition of apprenticeship. They feel it will help Amish families remain solvent and retain their culture. There are over 150,000 Amish people in the US and Canada. /ppDetractors worry that children do not have the attention span of adults and that they are more likely to be injured by heavy equipment.br / /p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p