Final answer:
The Labor Department is the social institution that requires a work permit to protect minors. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which falls under this department, established age-related labor standards and protections for children, ensuring they prioritize education over work.
Step-by-step explanation:
The social institution that protects minors by requiring a work permit is the Labor Department. In the United States, this responsibility largely falls under the purview of the Department of Labor, specifically as outlined by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938. This landmark legislation was the culmination of years of effort by child labor reformers and set important age-related labor standards.
Efforts to regulate child labor at the federal level faced significant opposition in the early 20th century, although some individual states had their own child labor laws. The necessity to provide protections for minors in the workforce became palpable during the Great Depression, as adult jobs needed protection. Subsequent legal actions, including the Keating-Owen Act of 1916, which prohibited interstate trade of goods produced with child labor, although later declared unconstitutional, laid the groundwork for future legislation. The creation of the U.S. Children's Bureau within the Department of Labor in 1912 was crucial in amplifying the issue of child labor and providing needed advocacy.
By the time the FLSA was enacted, a societal consensus had developed that children under the age of 18 were to be protected from exploitative labor practices that could endanger their health, safety, and educational opportunities. The act set minimum ages for employment and limited the hours and conditions under which children could work, ensuring that schooling took precedence over labor for minors.