Mr. BAILEY. Do you have any figures on the total number of migrant schoolchildren this legislation would affect?

Mrs. MAYER. I believe the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare has estimated there are about 150,000 migrant children who travel with their parents and who are in need of this kind of help.

Mr. BAILEY. I want to commend you for your very able presentation of this question. Your testimony will be of value to us when we sit down around the table to try to draft some legislation to cover this field, which right now is wide open. Thank you again.

Mrs. MAYER. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. BAILEY. Our next witness will be Mrs. Elizabeth B. Coleman of the Migrant Children's Fund. You may further identify yourself and proceed with your testimony.

STATEMENT OF MRS. ELIZABETH B. COLEMAN, MIGRANT

CHILDREN'S FUND, INC., PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y.

Mrs. COLEMAN. My name is Elizabeth B. Coleman and I am speaking today for Miss Fay Bennett, the executive director of the Migrant Children's Fund.

The Migrant Children's Fund is a nonprofit educational organization which was incorporated in New York State in 1954. Its purpose is to develop and finance pilot projects for the education of migrant children, and to support similar projects when it is in a position to do so.

The Migrant Children's Fund wishes to go on record as favoring the general purposes of H.R. 9872 and H.R. 10378. The fund, however, at this time is confining its comments to title III, planning grants, as it realizes that many other orgatnizations will testify in detail regarding all sections of both bills. Regarding the need for the programs provided for in these bills-the appropriation of certain funds to provide more adequate educational opportunities for the children of migrant agricultural workers-there can be little doubt.

The fund is heartily in favor of the provisions of title III which provide for surveys of the need for summer school sessions for migrant children, the development and maintenance of programs to encourage such children to attend school during the regular academic year as well as such summer schools, the improvement of the quality of education offered such children, and the coordination of such programs between States, including the transmittal of pertinent information with respect to school records.

Such a program of research and development, long overdue, is greatly needed as a basis for successful establishment of educational opportunities for migrant children.

The number of migrant children who travel with their parents from crop to crop is unknown. It has been estimated variously from 150,000 to 600,000. A special census survey made in July 1957 showed that close to a half million children 10 to 15 years of age worked on farms for pay.

The schooling of migrant children is interrupted for a variety of reasons; they may leave home and school to follow the crops before the school term is completed, they may spend one semester in three

or four States, or they may find schools closed for the peak harvest season in several consecutive areas.

Education under these circumstances is indeed difficult and frequently results in the children getting behind in their schoolwork. In a recent survey made by the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor, 59 percent of the 4,400 children under 16 years of age found working on farms during school hours were in school grades below normal for their ages.

Similar retardation effects have been shown in some recent State educational attainment surveys. In Oregon, for example, of 337 children in 3 counties, between 60 and 70 percent were found below their normal grade level. In an Ohio survey of 580 migrant children in the schools, only 49 percent were in their normal grade; 50 percent were retarded 1 year and 25 percent 2 or more years.

In a few areas a start has been made to supplement the education of migrant children by the establishment of summer schools as well as by attempting to get the children into regular sessions of school. Unfortunately, in other areas where many migrant families work, there has been no attempt to make the special provision necessary to provide educational opportunities for migrant children.

The Migrant Children's Fund believes that the enactment of H.R. 9872 or H.R. 10378 with the inclusion of title III would be of great assistance in obtaining for migrant children a better start in life than their parents had, educational opportunities equal to those of other children and the chance to utilize their own potentialities fully.

Mr. Chairman, I am presenting in addition to my formal statement copy of this report from the Department of Labor, which I think you will be interested in, as it shows that as the children get older the amount of retardation gets greater. When the children get into the 15-year level, 79 percent of the children were retarded.

Mr. BAILEY. Without objection, the statement will follow the testimony of the witness.

Mrs. COLEMAN. Thank you.

Mr. BAILEY. What is the extent of the membership of the organization of the Migrant Children's Fund?

Mrs. COLEMAN. I am sorry, I do not know that. It is a small organization which raises and distributes funds in an effort to find out and help the education of migrant children.

Mr. BAILEY. This fund you are representing, are they contributing to the school in Potter County, Pa.?

Mrs. COLEMAN. I do not know that. I can find out for you. Mr. BAILEY. How long has your organization been in existence? Mrs. COLEMAN. Four or five years.

Mr. BAILEY. What is your success in collecting money for this purpose? Do you have much difficulty getting funds?

Mrs. COLEMAN. It is slow, but it is an appealing sort of work to be in. There is great need, and when people know about it, I think they are willing to help.

Mr. BAILEY. You are engaged in a very worthwhile project of trying to help the situation in the absence of the State and Federal Governments being made to realize their responsibilities. The object of this legislation we are considering now is to require the Federal Government and, of course, Congress has no control over the States, but

the possibility of setting up Federal funds to be matched by the States might be an encouragement for the States to wake up and meet some of the responsibility for this problem.

Let me thank you on behalf of the members of the subcommittee. We appreciate very much your appearance here and your interest in this problem.

Mrs. COLEMAN. Thank you, sir.

(The document previously referred to, entitled "Child Labor Today," follows:)

CHILD LABOR TODAY

Activities of the Wage and Hour and Public Contracts Divisions in enforcing the child-labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the WalshHealey Public Contracts Act, fiscal year 1958

INTRODUCTION

During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1958, investigators of the Wage and Hour and Public Contracts Divisions made investigations in 53,796 nonagricultural establishments to determine compliance with the minimum wage, overtime and child-labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the WalshHealey Public Contracts Act. In addition, investigations made of 3,390 farms to determine whether the 16-year minimum age, which applies during school hours, was being observed by farmers.

This pamphlet analyzes the child-labor findings of these investigations and describes the activities of the divisions in bringing about compliance with the acts' provisions on the employment of children.

CHILD LABOR STANDARDS

The child-labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act apply to any employer who employs a minor in interstate or foreign commerce, or in the production of goods for such commerce, or to any producer, manufacturer, or dealer who ships goods or delivers goods for shipment in interstate or foreign commerce. The minimum ages for employment under this act are 16 years for general employment and 18 years for occupations found to be particularly hazardous by the Secretary of Labor. Minors 14 and 15 may be employed outside school hours in a limited number of occupations under regulated hours and conditions. Sixteen is the minimum age for employment in agriculture during school hours for the school district where the minor is living while working. In addition to an exemption for children employed in agriculture outside school hours, the law exempts from the child-labor provisions, children employed by their parents in nonmanufacturing, nonmining, and nonhazardous occupations; children employed as actors and performers in motion pictures, theatrical, radio and television productions; and children engaged in delivering newspapers to the consumer.

The child-labor provisions of the Public Contracts Act set a 16-year minimum age for boys and an 18-year minimum age for girls. These provisions apply to holders of most types of contracts let by the Federal Government for materials, supplies, articles, or equipment in excess of $10,000.

INVESTIGATION FINDINGS

Investigations disclosed 11,634 minors employed contrary to the child-labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act; 7,143 of them were employed in nonagricultural establishments and 4,491, who were under 16 years, were found working on farms during school hours.

During the fiscal year, 94 minors were found employed contrary to the childlabor provisions of the Public Contracts Act.

FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT-NON AGRICULTURAL ESTABLISHMENTS

In the past year 3,636, or more than half (51 percent) of the illegally employed minors, were 16 or 17 years of age engaged in hazardous occupations, and 3,507 or 49 percent, were under 16 years of age. (See appendix table A.)

OCCUPATIONS OF MINORS UNDER 16 ILLEGALLY EMPLOYED

Under 14 years of age.—Some of these very young children were found working at occupations for which an 18-year minimum age had been set by the various hazardous occupations orders. These occupations included acting as helpers on trucks delivering soft drinks and oil, felling timber, skidding logs, tailing the edger in a sawmill, and boning and washing heads on the killing floor of a slaughterhouse.

Many children under 14 years were doing work contrary to the 16-year minimum standard. They were doing janitor or cleanup work in candy factories, printshops, and banks; they were heading shrimp and picking crabs; they were engaged in construction work as waterboys, flag men and lamp attendants. Some children helped their mothers do industrial homework such as assembling plastic toy games, assembling rubber washers, addressing labels and gathering material for direct mailing.

Minors 14 or 15 years of age.-Like the children under 14 years of age, children of 14 and 15 were found working on jobs for which an 18-year minimum age had been set. These jobs included loading in a coal mine, and operating a dough sheeter in a bakery, a high-lift truck in a sawmill, a platen press in a print shop, and freight elevators in various types of establishments.

Other children of these ages were working in mills as doffers, knitters and loopers, operating power-driven sewing machines, and packing and labeling a variety of goods which went into interstate commerce.

LONG HOURS WORKED BY MINORS UNDER 16

Children 12, 14, and 15 years old worked in a tomato packing shed, contrary to the hours provisions, for 934 hours a day, 44 hours a week and after 7 p.m. Boys and girls of 14 and 15 years of age packed peaches for 14 hours daily and 581⁄2 hours weekly. Gate boys 13 and 14 years old worked at a livestock auction over 12 hours a day and sometimes as late as 1:30 a.m. A 15-year-old boy worked as a clerk during his summer vacation for an airlines office and hangar for 11 hours a day and up to 65 hours a week. Another 15-year-old boy was employed to call out tugboat crews at a river barge terminal. He worked from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. with 2 hours off each night.

MINORS WORKING IN HAZARDOUS OCCUPATIONS

As in the last few years, most of the 2,276 minors employed contrary to hazardous occupations orders were found working as drivers or helpers on motor vehicles, in violation of Order No. 2. Once again, the second largest number of minors (867) was found in the group operating various kinds of hoists, including elevators, contrary to Order No. 7. The third largest group of minors (594) was employed in logging and sawmilling occupations contrary to Order No. 4. (See table 1.)

The importance of compliance with the provisions of the hazardous occupations orders is demonstrated by the accounts in the investigation reports of accidents to minors who have been employed contrary to one of the orders. Two boys, one 16 and one 10, were killed instantly when a fully loaded gasoline truck driven contrary to Order No. 2 by the 16-year-old smashed into a passenger train.

A 17-year-old boy who over family protests left school "to make some money instead of studying" was crushed to death in a freight elevator shaft in a manufacturing plant. He was operating the freight elevator contrary to Order No. 7.

A boy of 14 working contrary to Order No. 4 on a stand of timber with his father, tripped and fell into a 50-inch power saw which almost severed both of his legs. He was hurried to a hospital but died the next day.

When a 17-year-old boy who was feeding a press brake contrary to Order No. 8 helped the material into the machine by hand, his hand slipped and he lost four fingers of his left hand beyond the second joint.

An assistant platen press operator, 17 years old, employed in violation of the provisions of Order No. 12, lost part of the second finger on his right hand while he was cleaning an offset press.

Another 17-year-old boy employed as a circular band saw operator contrary to Order No. 5 had his left index finger cut when he reached over to free the material being cut.

Table 1.-Number of minors found to have been employed in violation of hazardous occupations orders issued under the Fair Labor Standards Act, fiscal year 1958

Hazardous occupations orders violated:

1

Number of minors involved

Total in violation of one or more hazardous occupations orders 1___ 4, 121 Manufacturing or storage occupations involving explosives (Order

Occupations involving exposure to radioactive substances and to ionizing radiations (Order No. 6).

1

Power-driven hoisting apparatus occupations (Order No. 7).
Power-driven metal-forming, punching, and shearing machine occupa-
tions (Order No. 8)-.

867

185

Occupations in mining, other than coal (Order No. 9).

34

Occupations in slaughtering and/or meat-packing establishments and

rendering plants (Order No. 10).

79

Power-driven bakery machine occupations (Order No. 11).
Power-driven paper-products machines (Order No. 12) __

32

225

Occupations in the manufacture of brick, tile and kindred products (Order No. 13).

15

1 Represents an unduplicated count of the number of minors employed in violation of one or more hazardous occupations orders.

AGRICULTURE

Emphasis was continued this year in the making of child-labor investigations in areas where stoop crops are produced during periods when schools are in session. As a result, the divisions found again this year more children unlawfully employed in agriculture than in any other industry. Statistics of investigations for this fiscal year show the employment of 4,491 minors under 16 working on 1,944 farms during school hours in 39 States and in Puerto Rico. Most of these violations were found in the South and Southwestern part of the United States. The Middle West ranked second in the number of violations.

The number of local children employed in violation in agriculture continued to exceed the number of migrant children. The total number of local children was 2,646 in fiscal 1958 while migrants numbered 1,845. Information on local and migrant children found working in agriculture in 1958 is shown by State and age group. (See appendix, table B.)

The four crops on which most of the children were illegally employed were cotton, tomatoes, Irish potatoes, and prunes. Over half of the children who picked cotton were local youngsters. In the harvesting of tomatoes and potatoes the majority of young workers were migrant boys and girls. The collecting of prunes by very young children was still a problem in California this year. These children are migrants who come, for the most part, from various parts of California. They stay in the prune areas until after prune harvest but do not enroll in the public schools.

The picture has not changed as far as age is concerned. As in previous years, over two-thirds of the children removed from the fields during school hours were under 14 years of age.

The need for continued vigorous enforcement of the child-labor provisions that apply to agricultural employment is illustrated by the fact that 59 percent of the children for whom educational information is available were in grades below normal for their age. The lack of education is most acute among the migrant children. Since migrant children are usually not on the school census rolls, their presence in the school district is often not known to school authorities. (See table 2.)