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A report from a policy group in Washington, D.C., says lawmakers in at least 10 states have proposed easing child labor laws over the last two years.
华盛顿特区一个政策组织发布的一份报告称，在过去的两年里，至少有10个州的立法者提议放宽童工法律限制。
The bills would make it easier for children under 18 to work longer hours during school days and in more kinds of jobs.
这些法案将使18岁以下的儿童更容易在上学期间工作更长时间，并从事更多种类的工作。
The Economic Policy Institute in Washington released the report in March.
位于华盛顿的经济政策研究所于3月份发布了这份报告。
The report said some bills propose permitting children to work in places that serve alcohol and in industries such as building.
该报告称，一些法案提议允许儿童在供应酒精饮料的场所和建筑业等行业工作。
Lawmakers supporting the new bills say children could fill a labor shortage partly caused by the pandemic.
支持新法案的议员们表示，儿童可以填补部分由疫情造成的劳动力缺口。
They also say a job can provide teenagers with valuable work experience.
他们还表示，工作可以为青少年提供宝贵的工作经验。
Some say the government should not prevent a child from working if they have parental permission.
有些人表示，如果孩子得到父母的许可，政府不应该阻止他们工作。
The Arkansas legislature passed a bill this year removing a requirement that 14 and 15-year-olds get work permits.
阿肯色州立法机构今年通过了一项法案，取消了14岁和15岁儿童必须获得工作许可证的要求。
The permits had required children to get parental permission, proof of age, and an employer signature.
工作许可证要求儿童获得父母的许可、年龄证明和雇主的签名。
Without work permits, it can be harder for companies to know whether they are employing a child.
如果没有工作许可证，公司可能更难知道他们是否雇佣了儿童。
Arkansas state lawmakers separately passed legislation that increases fines for violating child labor laws.
阿肯色州议员单独通过了一项法案，增加了对违反童工法的公司的罚款。
Under federal law, children's work hours are limited, and they are not permitted to work in dangerous conditions.
根据联邦法律，儿童的工作时间是有限的，不允许他们在危险的环境下工作。
One proposal in Minnesota permits 16- and 17-year-old children to work in and around building areas.
明尼苏达州的一项提案允许16岁和17岁的儿童在建筑区及其周围工作。
A bill in Ohio that passed the state senate permits children to work on school days until 9 p.m.
俄亥俄州参议院通过的一项法案允许儿童在上学日工作到晚上9点。
Under current law, children can only work until 7 p.m. on school nights.
根据现行法律，儿童在上学日的晚上只能工作到晚上7点。
Allison Paxson is a child and education policy expert with Children's Defense Fund Ohio.
艾莉森·帕克森是俄亥俄州儿童保护基金会的儿童和教育政策专家。
The Defense Fund is a nonprofit group that aims to help children by supporting education and fighting abuse and poverty.
儿童保护基金会是一个非营利性组织，旨在通过支持教育、打击虐待儿童行为和贫困来帮助儿童。
Paxson told VOA the bill in Ohio and ones in other states are a way for businesses to deal with, what she called, the labor gap by employing children at lower wages.
帕克森告诉美国之音，俄亥俄州和其他州的法案是企业通过以较低工资雇用童工来解决劳动力缺口的一种方式。
She said children in the U.S. can be paid less than the federal minimum wage for adults.
她说，美国儿童的工资可以低于成年人的联邦最低工资。
Speaking after the passage of the bill in the Ohio Senate, State Senator Tim Schaffer said: "Thirteen states currently allow youth under the age of 16 to work until 9:00 p.m. year-round, earning a good wage and learning valuable employment skills."
俄亥俄州参议员蒂姆·谢弗在该州参议院通过该法案后说：“目前有13个州允许16岁以下的青少年全年工作到晚上9点，他们可以获得不错的工资，并学习宝贵的就业技能。”
But Paxson argued that more time working takes away from time at school.
但帕克森认为，更多的工作时间占用了孩子们在学校的时间。
The value young people can get "from workplace experience should not be the basis for unraveling their workplace protections, because this comes at the expense of their educations and their futures in both the short-term and in the long-term," Paxson said.
帕克森说，年轻人“从工作经历中获得的价值不应该成为解除工作场所保护措施的基础，因为这是以牺牲他们的教育与短期和长期的未来为代价的”。
A study published in the Journal of Research on Adolescence found that teenagers who work long hours in after-school jobs are more at risk of dropping out of high school.
发表在《青春期研究杂志》上的一项研究发现，课后工作时间长的青少年高中辍学的可能性更大。
"Excessive work hours can lead to declining interest…in school," Paxson said.
帕克森说：“工作时间过长会导致学生对学校的兴趣下降。”
The U.S. federal government has labor laws meant to protect children.
美国联邦政府制定了旨在保护儿童的劳动法。
For example, federal law states that 14 and 15-year-olds cannot work more than three hours a day after school.
例如，联邦法律规定，14岁和15岁的青少年放学后每天工作时间不能超过3小时。
But in many parts of the world, child labor remains very common.
但在世界上的许多地方，雇佣童工的情况仍然非常普遍。
A 2019 OECD study said that 152 million children were in child labor.
经合组织2019年的一项研究显示，有1.52亿儿童是童工。
In many countries, child labor is important to the economy.
在许多国家，童工对经济很重要。
The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs keeps a list of about 160 products in 78 countries that are produced using child labor.
美国劳工部国际劳工事务局列出了78个国家使用童工生产的约160种产品。
In Brazil, for example, there is evidence that children who are five- to 13-years old grow bananas.
例如，在巴西，有证据表明，5至13岁的儿童会种香蕉。
In Vietnam, children as young as seven help produce products like rubber, leather and coffee.
在越南，年仅7岁的儿童帮助生产橡胶、皮革和咖啡等产品。
Poverty often leads many families to depend on child labor, or push children to take dangerous jobs, the OECD study said.
经合组织的研究称，贫困往往导致许多家庭依赖童工，或者迫使儿童从事危险的工作。
Education, however, is the main alternative to labor for children.
然而，教育是儿童劳动的主要替代方案。
Public education "of good quality is essential as an alternative to child labor and for breaking the poverty cycle."
作为童工和打破贫困循环的替代方案，优质的公共教育是必不可少的。
I'm Dan Novak.
丹·诺瓦克为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
