Little Stars, Big Drama
Octomom's TV deal and Jon & Kate's tabloid world bring new focus on child labor laws
Now that Nadya Suleman, better known as Octomom, has inked a TV deal for all 14 of her children, she might want to take a close look at another reality show that owes its success to a large brood--the Pennsylvania Department of Labor is currently looking into whether the hit reality show Jon & Kate Plus 8 is complying with the state's child labor law. All of this underscores an important issue that tends to slip through the tabloid headlines. If publicity-hungry parents aren't always looking out for their kids best interests, who is?
Now that Nadya Suleman, better known as Octomom, has inked a TV deal for all 14 of her children, she might want to take a close look at another reality show that owes its success to a large brood--the Pennsylvania Department of Labor is currently looking into whether the hit reality show Jon & Kate Plus 8 is complying with the state's child labor law. All of this underscores an important issue that tends to slip through the tabloid headlines. If publicity-hungry parents aren't always looking out for their kids best interests, who is?
The answer varies depending on what state the show is filming in. Suleman and her children live in California, while the Gosselins call Pennsylvania home. According to Kelly Scott, head of the Employment Law Division at Ervin Cohen & Jessup in Beverly Hills, child labor laws generally apply to reality show kids in California, though every state has different laws, which have not all caught up with the reality TV craze. Pennsylvania laws, for example, "say you have to get a permit for a kid seven years of age and up, and that's when they can start working in the entertainment field," Scott tells iVillage.
But six of the eight Gosselin kids are only five years old. Does that mean being filmed around the clock for Jon & Kate Plus 8 might not qualify as working in the entertainment field? If not, then technically parents Jon and Kate Gosselin aren't working either, despite receiving hefty paychecks--between $25,000 and $75,000--for each episode. There is, however, a case to be made that the Gosselin kids aren't actually subject to child labor laws. "I think the argument here is that they're in their own home. They're not doing anything other than what they'd ordinarily be doing, or so we're told," says Scott. "And is that really working? Should the laws apply? I think that's what the Pennsylvania Labor Department has to look at. I think for them it's really the first time they've had to look at that."
Others aren't as likely to play devil's advocate. Stuart Shapiro, a partner at Cohen & Lombardo, P.C. in Buffalo, NY, feels that by appearing on the show, the kids are doing work. "The reason money is changing hands is because of these kids, so the parents aren't getting a gift. There has to be work involved," he says. "It's very hard for anybody to argue that when you're doing this number of episodes and featuring the kids and featuring their images, that they're not really providing an entertainment service."
The child labor guidelines facing Octomom, however, are more clearly delineated. Because her kids' work will fall under the California child labor laws, 15 percent of the children's earnings must go into a special fund called a "Coogan Account." That requirement came out of a 1935 case involving a child star named Jackie Coogan--a Los Angeles actor who had been discovered by Charlie Chaplin. Cougan sued his mother and stepfather whom he claimed had spent most of the millions he earned on luxuries for themselves like diamonds and cars. He won the case, but only got $126,000 after legal expenses. Coogan Accounts are currently only required in California, New York, Louisiana and New Mexico. A financial guardian has been appointed to oversee the remaining 85 percent of the Suleman kids' earnings. However, Scott explained that Suleman could still access that money "for the caring of and well being of the minor(s)." How much she can withdraw for those purposes is unclear. Monetarily, at least, it seems her children are more protected than the Gosselins, merely because they live in California.
Of course, it's not just about the money. Octomom already finds herself fending off one law suit by a child labor activist. And nobody knows yet how these reality shows will affect the lives of the children who star in them. From the TV show cameras--which are currently capturing the Gosselin's divorce--to the endless paparazzi attention, they're in the constant spotlight. Kathleen McKee, a professor at Regent University's Law School in Virginia, worries about the Gosselins in particular. "Why are these children less entitled to protection than any other children?" she asks. "They can't say, 'No, I don't want somebody to come in to my home. No, I don't want anybody to film me.' They're vulnerable. There is a certain level of exploitation going on. There wouldn't be a program with just Kate and Jon. It's because of the children that it has marketability."
California, on the other hand, has strict rules for kids in entertainment. According to Scott, issues like "lighting, how long they're in the lights, how many minutes they can work, if there has to be a nurse present when you have a certain number of infants, when you have to have a studio teacher present, when the guardian has to be present and when permits are required" are all regulated, protecting kids from any potential exploitation. Going forward, production companies will more likely make similar efforts to take the kids into account. "I think with the increased regulation and the possibility that you've got these advocacy groups out there that did not exist before, that you'll see less of that kind of stuff," says Shapiro. "There's going to be more control over it at the basic level."
Plus: How do Kate and Nadya's mothering skills compare? Click here for the Battle of the Multiples Moms.
-- Jacki Garfinkel
But six of the eight Gosselin kids are only five years old. Does that mean being filmed around the clock for Jon & Kate Plus 8 might not qualify as working in the entertainment field? If not, then technically parents Jon and Kate Gosselin aren't working either, despite receiving hefty paychecks--between $25,000 and $75,000--for each episode. There is, however, a case to be made that the Gosselin kids aren't actually subject to child labor laws. "I think the argument here is that they're in their own home. They're not doing anything other than what they'd ordinarily be doing, or so we're told," says Scott. "And is that really working? Should the laws apply? I think that's what the Pennsylvania Labor Department has to look at. I think for them it's really the first time they've had to look at that."
Others aren't as likely to play devil's advocate. Stuart Shapiro, a partner at Cohen & Lombardo, P.C. in Buffalo, NY, feels that by appearing on the show, the kids are doing work. "The reason money is changing hands is because of these kids, so the parents aren't getting a gift. There has to be work involved," he says. "It's very hard for anybody to argue that when you're doing this number of episodes and featuring the kids and featuring their images, that they're not really providing an entertainment service."
The child labor guidelines facing Octomom, however, are more clearly delineated. Because her kids' work will fall under the California child labor laws, 15 percent of the children's earnings must go into a special fund called a "Coogan Account." That requirement came out of a 1935 case involving a child star named Jackie Coogan--a Los Angeles actor who had been discovered by Charlie Chaplin. Cougan sued his mother and stepfather whom he claimed had spent most of the millions he earned on luxuries for themselves like diamonds and cars. He won the case, but only got $126,000 after legal expenses. Coogan Accounts are currently only required in California, New York, Louisiana and New Mexico. A financial guardian has been appointed to oversee the remaining 85 percent of the Suleman kids' earnings. However, Scott explained that Suleman could still access that money "for the caring of and well being of the minor(s)." How much she can withdraw for those purposes is unclear. Monetarily, at least, it seems her children are more protected than the Gosselins, merely because they live in California.
Of course, it's not just about the money. Octomom already finds herself fending off one law suit by a child labor activist. And nobody knows yet how these reality shows will affect the lives of the children who star in them. From the TV show cameras--which are currently capturing the Gosselin's divorce--to the endless paparazzi attention, they're in the constant spotlight. Kathleen McKee, a professor at Regent University's Law School in Virginia, worries about the Gosselins in particular. "Why are these children less entitled to protection than any other children?" she asks. "They can't say, 'No, I don't want somebody to come in to my home. No, I don't want anybody to film me.' They're vulnerable. There is a certain level of exploitation going on. There wouldn't be a program with just Kate and Jon. It's because of the children that it has marketability."
California, on the other hand, has strict rules for kids in entertainment. According to Scott, issues like "lighting, how long they're in the lights, how many minutes they can work, if there has to be a nurse present when you have a certain number of infants, when you have to have a studio teacher present, when the guardian has to be present and when permits are required" are all regulated, protecting kids from any potential exploitation. Going forward, production companies will more likely make similar efforts to take the kids into account. "I think with the increased regulation and the possibility that you've got these advocacy groups out there that did not exist before, that you'll see less of that kind of stuff," says Shapiro. "There's going to be more control over it at the basic level."
Plus: How do Kate and Nadya's mothering skills compare? Click here for the Battle of the Multiples Moms.
-- Jacki Garfinkel
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Daily Blabber Widget
Personally, I am THRILLED that Paul Petersen and Gloria Alred are there for the Octomom's kids. They should have appropriate protections.
The whole discussion should really be: NATIONAL CHILD LABOR LAWS for all children in all 50 states to PREVENT the obvious exploitation of the Gosselin children.
It should be written like CA/NY in that there are TIME LIMITS on work, monies are kept in trust funds, onset tutors and counselors, etc.
To know that their parents consider it work, to know that the old home had STUDIO LIGHTING in it (they showed it in an episode and the female complained about how much it hurt her eyes....yet must be ok to keep 8 kids under those things!), to see that their parents are spending money hand over fist on trips, cars, condos, etc. TO KNOW THAT THESE KIDS ARE BEING EXPLOITED IS THE TRUE WRONG IN THIS SITUATION.
FREE THE GOSSELIN EIGHT!!!!!!!!!!
OK here is my personal opinion I think it is unfair that just because these people have more kids then hampsters have that they get to get rich off of them! I do not believe that neither of them should have a reality show, so the moral of this story is that if you want to get rich and get on tv then all you have to do is pop out a litter of kids, come the heck on people! watching that crap makes me so angry knowing im a single mom trying to raise ONE kid by myself working hard towards a CAREER, so that I can EARN money to raise my family. not sit back and do NOTHING and get one check that most people make in one year! and we wonder why the economy is having such hard problems right now. stop making a fuss over these girls who can't keep their dang legs closed!!! maybe then the economy would have more money where its actually NEEDED!! like real families with REAL PROBLEMS!!!
Trishina, I'm with you 100% between artificially-induced multiple births, esp with all the orphans that need adopting and an overwhelming number of immigrants who reproduce like fruit flies and have the raggedy barefoot brood and probably a pregnant wife in their homeland that takes money from those who are really entitled to it.
With overpopulation being one of the earth's biggest problems and one that no one dares take on or even acknowledge, this woman's actions are deplorable as are the medical staff that would even allow this. Fundamentalists and others don't get it that "Go forth and multiply" exceeded reasonable limits well over a century ago. For those who believe in the devil, that's where the finger should be pointed, they need to get with it, change their thinking and question that any supreme being would want the tragic results that overpopulation has produced to say nothing of the biggest wars that will be about water, food and other natural resources.
The legality of this egotistical woman's irresponsible, pre-planned-for-profit actions and those who helped her is questionable, the ethics is not, it is simply wrong. Add to that all the other problems like exploiting babies. The optimal quick fix once this is aired is to watch it once, find out who the advertisers are and write them and the station to say you will not be watching again. She comes across to me as being mentally unbalanced and fraught with problems.
A childhood on television is not a true childhood.
I think it was totally irresponsible for both women to be artificially inseminated when they already had children. It will be interesting in 18 years when the children have their say. They turn into an oddity that sells. It does not make it right. I do not watch Gosselin, why encourage something so ridiculous as to have your children on parade, so she can live far better than most of us will ever hope for. I think it is terrible to call the other octomom. I will not watch here program either. It is too bad sideshows sell, but they seem to these days. As for immigrants, one Somolian working with my husband said, "He was having 12 children, because he would never have to pay IRS and USA always pays." Sad commentary.