Fast food’s child labor crisis: a path to modern slavery
From Ellie Finkelstein, Freedom United
| Children as young as 10 years old are manning fryers, scrubbing greasy floors late into the night, and working shifts so long they fall asleep in class. This is more than just “child labor”—it’s a path toward modern slavery. And it’s happening right now in America’s fast-food chains. |
| Take action |
Child labor includes any work that harms a child’s health, safety, or development. Manning deep fryers, handling sharp equipment, or working late into the night are not “light tasks”—they are dangerous and exploitative.
For migrant children especially, threats of dismissal, retaliation, or even deportation make the line between child labor and child slavery dangerously thin.
And the problem is widespread. Investigators have uncovered:
- McDonald’s: more than 2,300 child labor violations, including 10-year-olds working until 2 a.m.
- Baskin-Robbins: illegally employing 14- and 15-year-olds for excessive shifts during the school year.
- Sonic Drive-In: children as young as 14 operating hazardous fryers.
- Chick-fil-A: hundreds of minors illegally employed across multiple states.
- Jersey Mike’s: children tasked with operating dangerous meat slicers.
Demand accountability now
These are not isolated incidents—they reflect a growing crisis of exploitative child labor across the US.
Child labor violations have surged 283% in just seven years. Weak protections and corporate neglect are pushing children closer to modern slavery.
This Labor Day, tell McDonald’s, Jersey Mike’s, Sonic, Baskin-Robbins, and Chick-fil-A that children belong in school—not risking burns, exhaustion, and lost futures behind fast-food counters.
In solidarity,
Ellie and the team that supports the Freedom United community
| Ellie Finkelstein Campaigner and News Editor, Freedom United |
