The CARE Act of 2026 strengthens federal child labor protections, primarily focusing on agricultural work where children have historically been allowed to work under more dangerous conditions than in other industries. The bill raises the minimum age for non-family farm agricultural work from 14 to 16 years old, eliminates an existing waiver that allowed younger children to perform hazardous hand-harvest labor, and prohibits anyone under 18 from working as a pesticide handler. The legislation significantly increases civil penalties for child labor violations, ranging from $500 to $15,000 per employee for general violations and up to $60,115 for violations causing serious injury, illness, or death, with penalties doubled for repeated or willful violations. Additionally, the bill creates new criminal penalties of up to 5 years imprisonment for employers who repeatedly or willfully violate child labor laws resulting in death or serious injury to workers under 18. The law requires employers to report work-related serious injuries, illnesses, or deaths of child agricultural workers to the Department of Labor within 5 days and mandates that the Labor Department annually report to Congress on child labor violations and work-related injuries in agriculture, with implementation rules to be issued within six months of enactment.