DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa House debated a bill loosening restrictions around youth employment eligibility in Iowa on Tuesday.
House File 647 would allow some teens aged 14-17 to be able to work in some restricted industries, like manufacturing, so long as it's part of a work-based learning program.
But how big is the market for younger workers? According to the latest data from Iowa Workforce Development, there are about 181,000 Iowans between 16 and 19 working in the state. And for many employers, those young workers can be a major asset.
There's about 9.6 million job vacancies in the United States, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, as many business owners can attest, filling those openings isn't always easy.
"In the past, we added a lot fewer jobs per month. And the jobs that we added were generally filled," said Dr. Peter Orazem, economics professor at Iowa State University. "Now you're having trouble filling these jobs, even though there's a tremendous demand for labor."
Advocates say House File 647 can help with that by expanding the types of jobs that teens can work and increasing the hours they can stay on the clock.
Jerry Akers, who owns more than 30 Great Clips across Iowa and Nebraska, feels the bill will open the door for everyone, not just those younger workers.
"If a teenager comes in and they can do a job that an adult is currently doing, that allows that adult to take a job they're more qualified for. and so the upward cascading effect on hiring overall should be positive for many businesses," Akers said.
IWD data says that the retail, food service, and healthcare assistance industries hire the most teen workers.
However, teen labor participation in Iowa is only about 51%.
Orazem says that many young Iowans are simply opting out of working while they're still in school.
"They're simply not wanting those jobs," Orazem said. "And so whether or not you're relaxed the restrictions or not, you're not going to see a big change in the fraction of young Iowans who are in the labor market."
In addition, critics of the proposal don't believe Iowa should be filling gaps in the workforce with young workers at all.
"This happens all over the place, all over this state all over this country. The answer isn't to change the law to make that right, it's to protect kids in dangerous occupations and make sure that they're not doing those," Charlie Wishman, President of the Iowa Federation of Labor AFL-CIO, told Local 5 in April.
During floor debate in the Iowa House on Tuesday, representatives substituted House File 647 for its senate version, Senate File 542.
That bill was amended and passed a House vote, 60-34.
However, because it was amended, the bill will need to pass the senate again before it can head to Gov. Kim Reynolds' desk.