Since 1973 and the signing of the fundamental ILO (International Labour Organisation) Convention No. 138 on the minimum age for admission to employment, the prohibition of child labour — or at least its strict control — has been considered a social achievement in many countries, and one that it seems difficult to go back on. Under this convention, any member that ratifies it must specify a minimum age for admission to employment or work on its territory, below which no person should be authorised to work in any occupation. Depending on the 176 signatory countries, the age limit varies between 14 and 16. It should be pointed out, however, that the Convention allows national legislation to authorise, under certain conditions, the performance of light work from the age of 13 (or 12 in the case of developing countries that have set the minimum age for admission to employment at 14).
In the light of these international regulations, the House Bill 1410, signed by the Republican Governor of Arkansas, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, in March 2023, has caused quite a stir. The bill aims to make it easier to hire minors by exempting children under the age of 16 from having to provide proof of age in order to be recruited. While this may come as a shock at first, it should be remembered that the United States is one of the few countries not
