EXPRESS: The Effect of State-Mandated Employment Certificates on Child Labor Violations in the United States

The number of minors involved in child labor violations in the United States more than tripled from 2017 to 2025. Compounding this issue, several state legislatures have recently weakened child labor protection laws. A key component of these laws is whether employers are required to obtain an employment certificate when hiring minors under 18 years of age, which typically requires a parent’s signature and is issued by a school. Proponents of loosening child labor regulations argue that there is a lack of evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of these laws in reducing child labor violations. In this study, we examine the effect of state-mandated employment certificates on reducing child labor violations. We find that the requirement leads to an average of 13.3% fewer violation cases (not statistically significant), 31.8% fewer minors involved in child labor violations, and 34.9% lower civil penalties per minor, indicating reduced severity of violations that do occur. The negative effects on the number of cases and minors persist after addressing endogeneity concerns, as assessed using two novel instrumental variables. Furthermore, we find a positive relationship between the number of unaccompanied migrant children released to a state and the incidence and severity of child labor violations, suggesting that this demographic is particularly vulnerable to labor exploitation. We identify two key mechanisms driving the effectiveness of employment certificates. First, they act as a legal deterrent for employers, as the documented acknowledgment of regulations makes it more difficult to claim ignorance. This is reflected in the higher rate of violations categorized as “willful” in certificate-mandate states. Second, they enhance stakeholder awareness and monitoring. Compliance improves for requirements explicitly documented in the certificates but not for those less visible. Moreover, among common certificate features, parental consent shows the strongest protective effect, suggesting the importance of active oversight and awareness. To our knowledge, this study is the first to provide quantitative evidence for the efficacy of mandating employment certificates in reducing child labor violations. It highlights the critical role of state policies in protecting minor workers and aims to enrich the discourse on child labor regulation and policy implementation.