‘Dumb and dangerous’: US sees surge in efforts to weaken child labor regulations

A federal bill would allow some teens to work in certain jobs in the logging industry. Children who work 20-plus hours a week are less likely to go to college. Photograph: Jesse Winter/The Guardian

This March a bill was reintroduced in the US House and Senate that would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to work in certain mechanized operations in the logging industry under parental supervision. Timber industry groups have strongly backed the legislation. For Wendy Bostwick, the news was a nightmare.

Bostwick’s son Cole, who had just turned 18, died in a logging accident in 2014 on a job site in Washington where his father, Tim Bostwick, was also working.