A Working Class

Child labor is alive and well in the U.S., so long as you count teenagers as children. Drawing on 2002 data, a Census Bureau report says 3 million kids age 15-17 were in the labor force—9 percent of the 15-year-olds, 26 percent of the 16-year-olds and 41 percent of the 17-year-olds. Girls in that age bracket were a bit more likely than boys to be in the workforce (26 percent vs. 24 percent). Of course, being in the job market and having a job can be two different things.