In the United States we have a federal law called the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which established regulations for all workers like minimum wage, safety, and the like. The problem is that the FLSA has an exemption, called the “Newsie Exemption” for child performers. That can exemption can be found HERE. Thanks to the Newsie Exemption, child performers are not protected in any way, unless their state passes labor laws specific to child performers. That makes for confusing patchwork of laws, state to state, with California having the most restrictive and most developed on any state. You can find pages on this site detailing the child actor laws in California, Georgia, Illinois, India (Bollywood), Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Pennsylvania.
Changes to the industry and filming incentives often trigger new legislation in each state. New bills currently in the legislative process can be found here. We strongly believe in the importance of parents, as individual citizens, participating in the legislative process in their respective states.
