HARRISBURG, Pa. - Children half the smoking age for Pennsylvania are actually laboring in America's tobacco fields, according to new reports. It's hard to tell how many or how old they are. But an Oxfam America/Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) study found many workers in North Carolina tobacco fields are younger than 18. FLOC's president and founder Baldemar Velasquez says families put their children to work to get by. He says their interviews found kids typically start in their early teens, but sometimes much younger.

"Seven, eight on up," says Velasquez. "We've seen kids this summer that were 13 and 15 and they'd tell us they were working in tobacco seven years, five years."

The major tobacco companies all have policies against child labor, but a federal loophole intended for farm families leaves the practice in a legal gray area.

Velasquez says he worked in tobacco as a teen; in fact low wages meant he started working in other crops with the rest of his family when he was six. As he puts it "it was either that or not eating." Velasquez says the families, often here illegally, are at the mercy of labor contractors. He says economic pressures mean farm owners and cigarette companies look the other way when crew leaders break the law.

"Doesn't matter to the crew leader, the labor contractor, because he gets the money from the harvest," Velasquez says. "He doesn't care how small the hands are putting cut tobacco on the trailer, as long as the acres get done."

According to a separate report from Human Rights Watch, about half of all tobacco farm laborers make less than minimum wage. It found 12-hour days are common, and 16-hour days not unusual. Off the farms this country eliminated most child labor decades ago.

"These are symptoms of a broader labor problem," he says. "We used to have children in the mines of America, textile mills of America. When unions were formed they negotiated away those conditions."

Velasquez says the fights unions won in the mines of Pennsylvania a century ago still have to be fought in the tobacco fields.


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LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. -- Beginning last week, thousands of Virginia families with children saw more money in their bank accounts as the federal government started distributing Child Tax Credit payments to eligible families.

Vilma Hernandez-Morales is a mother of four with three children younger than 17 who qualify for the monthly payments. A legal resident of Loudoun County, originally from El Salvador, she supports her entire family by babysitting and taking on part-time jobs.

Her daughter Esmirelda said they will use the money for everyday expenses that have piled up during the pandemic.

"The way she will use it will be like, in medical situations, she has to pay for food, for clothing, for supplies," Hernandez-Morales explained.

A year and a half after the pandemic started, many Virginia families sorely need the extra cash, particularly Latino families. About 14% of Virginians with children sometimes or often didn't have enough to eat in the previous week, according to U.S. Census data from June. That number was much worse for Latino families, with almost half reporting not having enough to eat.

Jennifer Lassiter Smith, director of U.S. programs for INMED Partnerships for Children in Loudoun County, pointed out her group is educating low-income families on qualifying for and accessing payments.

She said if taxpayers received refunds deposited to their bank accounts, the payment will automatically show up. But many don't realize if they received an IRS check in the mail, they need to be sure they have registered a forwarding address if they moved since filing tax returns.

"For the people who need it the most, housing has been precarious this year," Lassiter Smith observed. "So if they don't live in the same place now as they did six months ago, then there could be a problem there. So that's another thing that we're letting them know."

The Child Tax Credit expansion is part of President Joe Biden's American Rescue Plan, and nearly 1.6 million Virginia kids are expected to benefit.

Experts say the expanded tax credit could cut child poverty in the nation almost in half if it's made permanent. About 85,000 children in Virginia alone would be elevated out of poverty.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- Supporters of the expanded Child Tax Credit are highlighting the arrival of monthly payments for eligible families.

In South Dakota, officials in the field of pediatrics see long-term benefits for children.

The payments, scheduled to begin today, range for most eligible families from $250 to $300 for each child. They'll receive the extra funds over the next six months, with the other half claimed on next year's taxes.

Eleanor Turner, executive director of the South Dakota chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said it's not just about extra trips to Target.

"If you couldn't get your child into the soccer club because it costs too much money, perhaps now you're able to do that [and] increase the health of your child," Turner remarked.

She noted the extra money might also make families less reluctant to seek health care for their child. Research has shown financial stability can help a child improve their academic performance, thus boosting their earning potential as adults.

Despite optimism about reducing poverty, the expansion is temporary. Federal policymakers face growing calls to make it permanent.

Turner pointed out a higher level of monthly income results in benefits some might take for granted. She explained if you have very little money, there's a good chance your immediate surroundings aren't optimal for your family's health.

"Perhaps you don't have access to green space. Perhaps there is a food desert in your area; you're not able to access good nutrition for your family," Turner outlined.

She added in extreme cases, a family's water may have been shut off, providing more long-term health-risks. The additional income allows them to restore service and keep future bills from piling up.

Nearly 200,000 South Dakota families are expected to benefit from the expanded tax credit.

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- In a few weeks, Minnesota will become the first state to end the practice of separating newborns from mothers held in prison.

On Aug. 1, the Department of Corrections will shift to placing the child and mother into community alternative settings, such as halfway houses. In Minnesota, the department said, 278 pregnant women were sentenced to prison between 2013 and 2020, most for nonviolent offenses.

Deb Fitzpatrick. policy and legislative affairs director of the Children's Defense Fund Minnesota, said her group was happy to see the policy eliminated. She said she sees it as part of a broader push in the legislative session to ensure all Minnesota infants have better outcomes.

"It shouldn't matter what your ZIP Code is or what your race is," she said. "If you're a baby, you need to get a good start in life."

She also cited an expansion of health coverage to mothers for a full year after the birth of a child. But Fitzpatrick said lawmakers missed some opportunities, such as a paid family-leave program. The infant separation change received broad bipartisan support, with backers noting the old policy is stressful for both infant and mother - and that it serves little purpose, with the median prison stay for a pregnant person in Minnesota at just under five months.

State Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn, DFL-Roseville, played a key role in crafting the legislation. She said the separation policy had been especially cruel, as it added to the racial gaps experienced by women within the correctional system.

"Disproportionately, we have Native women and women of color who are incarcerated," she said, "and then we're doing this practice that kind of exacts this trauma on multiple generations."

Researchers have noted that separation from their babies can make incarcerated mothers more vulnerable to mental-health issues, such as post-partum depression, and affect the child's development as well. Other states have similar programs, but they involve the baby residing at the prison with their mom - which Becker-Finn said lawmakers wanted to avoid.