In nearly every state, the minimum age to serve alcohol was 18-until recently. Download image Industry-backed efforts to lower the alcohol service age are out of step with public sentiment and put teens at risk Iowa Hotel and Lodging Association Iowa Restaurant Association Opportunity Solutions Project (Foundation for Government Accountability) Americans for Prosperity (see Note for full list)Ĭopy the code below to embed this chart on your website. Idaho Retail, Restaurant, and Grocery Associations Lowers alcohol service age from 18 to 16 (for service and bartending) Recent changes represent an increasingly coordinated effort to roll back protections for young people in the restaurant industry, a trend that does not appear to be slowing. In the past two years, New Hampshire lowered the age to bus tables where alcohol is served, and Michigan and Tennessee lowered the age for youth to be employed in establishments that sell alcohol. Table 1 includes only states that have proposing lowering the age to serve alcohol, but industry lobbying groups are also involved in efforts to lower the age for youth to work in the presence of alcohol. For comparison, it previously took 18 years, from 2003 to 2020, for five states-South Dakota, Delaware, Arizona, North Dakota, and Arkansas-to make changes to youth alcohol service laws. Seven of these states have signed the bills into law (see Table 1 and Figure A). Since 2021, at least nine states have introduced legislation to lower the alcohol service age. This effort has been alarmingly successful but has received little attention compared with other child labor law rollbacks. A deeper analysis of the latter trend reveals a coordinated multistate effort to pass such laws that extends beyond these four states. Four of these 14 states (Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin) have introduced or passed bills related to youth work in the presence of alcohol in 2021–2023. Our previous research on child labor documented coordinated attempts to roll back child labor protections in 14 states. In recent years, states have ramped up efforts to lower the alcohol service age The leisure and hospitality industry, which includes food service employers and restaurants, has long employed the largest share of teens and young adults of any industry-between one-quarter and one-third of workers these ages. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division data found that nearly two-thirds-64%-of the 16,000 documented child labor violations over the past five years were committed by food service employers. A 2023 analysis by the Food and Environment Reporting Network of U.S. At the same time, restaurants are, by far, the worst offenders of child labor laws of any industry and are the largest industry employer of youth. The presence of alcohol is a serious risk factor, both for sexual harassment of restaurant industry workers and for alcohol dependence among restaurant workers. The restaurant industry is notorious for low wages and benefits and exploitative working conditions, including systemic racial and gender discrimination and rates of sexual harassment that are dramatically higher than in other industries. While the NRA’s agenda on child labor is not confined to the restaurant industry, the lobbying organization is particularly focused on eroding protections for young workers in the restaurant industry, including by supporting efforts to lower the age at which young workers can serve alcohol in bars and restaurants. The NRA has also played a key role in recent efforts to roll back protections for young workers in numerous industries by lobbying in support of bills that extend the hours teens can work, lift restrictions on hazardous work, and eliminate the permitting process for youth work. The National Restaurant Association (NRA)-which represents over 100 fast-food and full-service restaurant corporations and has affiliate groups in every state-has long sought to maintain low wages and weak labor standards in the restaurant industry. Teen alcohol service is part of a corporate agenda to cut labor costs and deregulate employment. The restaurant industry is rife with abuse, including child labor law violations Serving alcohol puts underage workers at risk of sexual harassment and increases the likelihood that underage workers and customers will consume alcohol.These same nine states have a pattern of low minimum wage rates and subminimum wages for tipped workers and youth.In West Virginia, 16-year-olds can serve alcohol and bartend.Wisconsin is seeking to lower the alcohol service age to 14.Since 2021, at least nine states have introduced bills to lower the alcohol service age.The restaurant industry is engaged in a coordinated multistate effort to lower the age at which young workers can serve alcohol in restaurants and bars.
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