Working in industrial laundries at age 14, laboring up to 35 hours a week on top of school — some US states are relaxing the barriers to employing minors, despite rising cases of exploitation.

At least five states have amended their legislation covering adolescent job regulations, with Arkansas being the latest to see changes take effect in August.

But such shifts come as the number of illegally employed minors has surged by 69 percent since 2018, according to Labor Department figures.

Removing the work permit process for young people in Arkansas "might sound like it's not a big deal, but we actually think it's a pretty impactful law," said Reid Maki, coordinator at the Child Labor Coalition.

"Eventually this will allow some kids to end up in jobs they really shouldn't be in," he told AFP, adding that the work permit requirement "should not have been removed."

A spokesperson for Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders pushed back against that characterization, saying it is "still illegal for minors to work dangerous jobs."

"This bill simply makes it legal for anyone in Arkansas aged 14 and up to work without a permission slip from the government," added the spokesperson for Sanders, a former White House press secretary for ex-president Donald Trump.

But some fear an erosion of protections, with Maki noting that the Labor Department has fewer than 800 inspectors covering the country's 11 million workplaces.

'Inconsistent' with federal protections

Over the last two years, at least 14 states introduced or passed laws eroding child labor standards, according to a report by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a progressive think tank.

"They do that in a variety of ways, either by extending hours, by expanding the industries in which young workers can work, or allowing them to serve alcohol," said Nina Mast, coauthor of the report.

Five states have gone as far as amending their legislation, the report added: Arkansas, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, and New Jersey.