During the gilded age, child labor was used a lot. People called progressives were people who wanted to reform corruption in the society. Muckrakers were people who were journalists that exposed the corruption in the society.

The first step to passing federal labor laws was progressives begin to call for reforms. Lewis Hine was one of progressives that wanted to get rid of child labor. Lewis would expose child labor to people by taking photographs of them and their conditions. Marie Van Vorst was another progressive. Marie would go to sweatshops and work with the children, and seeing what their experience was.

The second step to passing federal labor laws was lobbyists work to influence legislators. The Nation Consumers League, or the NCL. The NCL was a private organization that wanted to get rid of child labor, and wanted to expose it. The National Child Labor Committee was also a private organization that worked to promote the rights of child labor, and also expose it.

The third step to passing federal labor laws was individual states pass labor laws. Massachusetts was one state that passed labor laws. Massachusetts didn't like children labor, and that's why they passed their labor laws.

The fourth and final step of passing federal labor laws was Congress passing federal labor laws. Congress passed two laws in 1918 and and 1922, but the Supreme Court ruled that both of the laws were unconstitutional. Congress also came up with an amendment against child labor in 1924, but the states did not ratify the amendment. Finally in 1938 congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act. It established minimum wages, overtime pay, and you couldn't employ the youth.