Under federal law, a 10-year-old generally cannot get a job. The Fair Labor Standards Act sets 14 as the minimum age for most employment, so a child that young is shut out of ordinary work at stores, restaurants, offices, and other businesses. There are five narrow exceptions where the law does allow a child under 14 to work for pay: helping in a business owned by a parent, acting or performing, delivering newspapers, working on a family farm, and, with a special federal waiver, hand-harvesting certain crops. Anything outside those categories is off-limits, and some jobs are banned for anyone under 18 no matter what.
The Jobs a 10-Year-Old Can Legally Take
The FLSA defines “oppressive child labor” as employing anyone under 16 unless a specific exemption applies.1Legal Information Institute. 29 USC 203(l) – Oppressive Child Labor For non-farm work, the Department of Labor treats 14 as the general minimum age.2U.S. Department of Labor. Age Requirements The exemptions below are the only legal paths to paid employment for a child under 14.
A Parent’s Business
A child of any age can work for a parent, or someone standing in the role of a parent, in a business that parent owns. The work cannot be in manufacturing or mining and cannot be a job the Secretary of Labor has declared hazardous.1Legal Information Institute. 29 USC 203(l) – Oppressive Child Labor A 10-year-old ringing up customers at a parent’s bakery, stocking shelves at the family’s retail shop, or answering phones at a parent-owned office is fine. Two conditions matter: the parent has to actually own the business, not just manage it, and the tasks have to stay clear of the hazardous-work list.
Acting and Performing
The FLSA fully exempts children who work as actors or performers in movies, theater, radio, and television productions.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 213 – Exemptions There is no federal age floor and no federal cap on hours for child performers. Several states fill that gap with their own entertainment work permits, on-set schooling requirements, and rules that require a portion of earnings to be held in a blocked trust account until the child turns 18 or is emancipated. California, New York, Illinois, Louisiana, and New Mexico are among the states that have adopted these trust account protections.
Newspaper Delivery
Anyone delivering newspapers to consumers is completely exempt from the FLSA’s child labor rules, minimum wage requirements, and overtime rules.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 213 – Exemptions A 10-year-old with a neighborhood paper route is on solid legal ground under federal law.
Working on a Farm
Farm work runs on a separate, more permissive track. A child under 12 can work on a farm owned or operated by a parent at any time outside school hours.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 213 – Exemptions A child under 12 can also work on someone else’s farm with parental consent, but only if the farm is small enough that its workers are not covered by the federal minimum wage requirement.4U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 40 – Overview of Youth Employment (Child Labor) Provisions for Agricultural Occupations
A separate provision was written specifically for 10- and 11-year-olds. Employers can apply to the Secretary of Labor for a waiver to hire children between 10 and 12 as hand-harvest laborers on piece-rate crops for up to eight weeks in a calendar year. The crop must be one traditionally paid on a piece-rate basis in the region, and the work cannot happen during school hours.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 213 – Exemptions Hazardous farm work stays off-limits for anyone under 16 regardless of the exemption.
Informal Work That Isn’t “Employment”
Most of the ways a 10-year-old actually earns money are not “employment” under the FLSA at all. Babysitting for a neighbor, mowing lawns, raking leaves, shoveling snow, and running a lemonade stand are casual services performed for private individuals in a non-commercial setting. They fall outside the federal child labor rules entirely. No permits, no paperwork, no hour limits. The line is whether the child is working for a business or is providing occasional help to private people, and these activities sit firmly on the private side.
Jobs That Are Off-Limits at Any Age
Some work is banned for anyone under 18, and no exemption unlocks it, including the parent-owned business exemption. The Department of Labor maintains 17 Hazardous Occupations Orders for non-agricultural work, plus a separate set of hazardous orders for farm work that apply to anyone under 16.5eCFR. 29 CFR Part 570 – Child Labor Regulations, Orders and Statements of Interpretation
The non-farm hazardous orders cover:
- Working in or around plants that manufacture or store explosives
- Driving a motor vehicle or working as an outside helper on one
- Coal mining, other mining, and excavation
- Logging, forestry, fire prevention, and sawmill or lumber processing work
- Operating power-driven machinery, including woodworking, metal-forming, meat-processing, and bakery equipment, and paper balers
- Any work on or about a roof, and wrecking, demolition, or shipbreaking
- Exposure to ionizing radiation
Because these bans reach up to age 18, they apply with full force to a 10-year-old. A parent who owns a bakery can put a child behind the counter, but not near the dough mixer.1Legal Information Institute. 29 USC 203(l) – Oppressive Child Labor
State Rules That Can Tighten the Answer
Federal law is the floor. When a state’s rule is stricter, the state rule controls; when the state’s rule is looser, the federal minimum still applies.6U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 43 – Child Labor Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act for Nonagricultural Occupations Most states have their own child labor statutes covering minimum ages, working hours, nightwork curfews, and permits.7U.S. Department of Labor. Selected State Child Labor Standards Affecting Minors Under 18 in Non-farm Employment
The three areas where state rules most often go beyond federal law:
- Work permits. The FLSA does not require working papers, but many states do, with a review of the child’s duties, hours, and school performance before employment can begin.6U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 43 – Child Labor Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act for Nonagricultural Occupations
- Hour caps and nightwork curfews, especially during the school year.
- Entertainment-industry protections in states like California, New York, and Illinois, which require child performer permits, on-set tutoring, daily hour caps, and trust accounts for earnings.
Before a 10-year-old starts anything, check the state labor department’s rules alongside the federal ones.
Social Media and Child Influencers
A 10-year-old featured regularly in a parent’s YouTube channel or Instagram feed may be generating real income, but the FLSA exemptions were written long before those platforms existed. A growing group of states, starting with Illinois and Minnesota and now including California, Utah, Arkansas, and Montana, have passed laws requiring that a share of earnings from monetized content featuring a minor be set aside in a trust account. These laws usually trigger when the child appears in a meaningful percentage of a creator’s monetized posts and the earnings cross a set threshold. The obligation falls on the parent or guardian who runs the account, so a parent whose child is on camera should check whether their state has enacted this kind of legislation.
If Your Child Earns Real Money
Age does not exempt anyone from income tax. For 2025, a dependent child must file a federal return if earned income tops $15,750, and unearned income (interest, dividends, or trust distributions) triggers a filing requirement at $1,350.8Internal Revenue Service. Publication 501 – Dependents, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information A paper route or occasional babysitting will not come close. A child performer with commercial bookings, or a child featured in heavily monetized social media content, can clear the threshold, and the parent is responsible for making sure the return gets filed. The child’s earnings are taxed at the child’s own rates.