After years of unregulated family channels and kid influencing, a new Illinois law has ensured that children will also reap the benefits of their contributions to online content creation – despite not being old enough to financially collect the funds. The new rules enacted on July 1st to the state’s Child Labor Law require parents of kid influencers (or those present in their family-style content) under the age of 16 to pay their children a percentage of their online earnings.

Illinois’ New Law Ensures Kid Influencers Receive Compensation 

The new regulations require children present in at least 30% of content over 30 days to receive a percentage of the financial income in a trust fund accessible after they turn 18. As the very first state to make changes to their Child Labor Law, they’re not only paving the way for kid influencer’s success, but also influencing other states to make changes in the name of children’s’ safety and online protection from manipulation. 

Despite the popularity of kid influencers and family channels in recent years, especially following pandemic lock-downs and financial insecurity in many communities, many states have been hesitant to make definitive changes to their child labor protection laws and regulations. While children working in the media and T.V. industry at large have had protections for years, kid influencers have not – contributing to a large gap in financial protections, obligations, and security for these “successful” kids as they reach adulthood. 

This new kid influencer-focused law will set children up for success and combat parental manipulation and exploitation in the online industry. “The rise of social media has given children new opportunities to earn a profit. Many parents have taken this opportunity to pocket the money,” Illinois state senator Dave Koehler admitted following the passage of the new bill, “while making their children continue to work in these digital environments.” 

Ethical Nature of Family & Kid Influencers on Social Media

Especially considering the age requirements many social media platforms enforce, kid influencers have been able to make content under the direction of their parents – who “run the accounts” behind the scenes. For many, this online presence was solely a hobby under the watchful eye of a seemingly responsible parent.

While they might’ve been shocked, some parents admit that their children’s social media pages quickly grew profitable – whether through a venue similar to “The Creator Fund” on apps like TikTok or other pay-for-view initiatives for influencers making content. For some, it seemed like the perfect way to set their children up for success, but others took a drastically different and more exploitative approach.

As the main account holder, with sole access to these funds, many parents have “pocketed” the money their children have made from content creation online. These parents keep the money for themselves despite the content technically belonging to the children, burdening their kids to maintain financial stability or provide additional family income. They often burden their kids to continue working for financial stability or additional family income.

For family channels it might’ve been less of “a choice” for these children to engage in the content. Their parents are showing their faces, making content with them, or using their experiences to profit themselves – which is an entirely different issue prevalent in discourse about family channel toxicity online.

For creators that “blur” their children’s faces – whether for safety reasons or otherwise – the law is relatively vague on the financial obligations these family creators would need to follow. However, whether it’s primarily their content – as a kid influencer online – or their faces/voices are shown 30% of the time in family content over a certain time period, they’re entitled to the financial earnings it makes. 

Financial Obligations for Parents of Kid Influencers

Considering the large financial incomes many of these creators are earning – even as much as $10,000 to $25,000 per sponsored post, according to CBS reportings – it’s essential that these children are being compensated, and not just exploited for these incredible funds. According to the law, children must receive compensation for any content that earns more than 10 cents per view, such as YouTube videos, sponsored Instagram photos, or 15-second TikToks.

Children receive these funds based on their frequency of appearance in the content. Not regulated by the state, parents are responsible for creating and contributing to these trusts – and children wield the power of legal action towards their parents if they’re feeling exploited or don’t receive adequate funds in their trust at 18-years-old. 

While there’s still a great deal of vagueness to the law, presented over a year ago in 2023 and finally enacted on July 1st, many parental and family creators have expressed their support for it.

“It felt like I had struck gold,” Brooke Raybould, a parenting influencer and stay-at-home mom, told Good Morning America. “I can be home with my kids, share my natural life, do some work…It was basically a dream for me.” Raybould, making more than six figures annually, acknowledges that she and her husband have diligently established a financial compensation plan for their son, involved in her family’s content.

However, she doesn’t have the same faith in other family creators to do the same – “I understand where it can go South,” she admits. “You have to be an ethical person no matter what you do…And we need certain bodies to make sure that people are making the ethical decision,” while fairly compensating their children. 

Closing Thoughts

Ultimately, the new Illinois Child Labor Law aims to protect children and ensure their financial stability in adulthood. While there’s optimism for other states to adopt similar laws, many kid influencers still face online exploitation by those expected to safeguard their well-being.

Like any family business or adolescent job, if individuals contribute to products that generate profit, they deserve fair compensation. Children, like any other adult, are still human and worthy of basic human decency, respect, and acknowledgement – parents shouldn’t be the ones who get to decide if that’s true for their own kids or not. Kid influencers deserve fair compensation for their work and protection from exploitation, nationwide and beyond.