Profiting from kids

Social media companies collected a windfall by advertising to American youth in 2022. A new study by Harvard University researchers found that Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), and YouTube earned nearly $11 billion in advertising revenue from U.S.-based youth that year. The study, published in PLOS One on Dec. 27, is the first to estimate the number of youth using the platforms and assess how much ad revenue they generate.

Researchers didn’t expect the companies to share their data, so they determined the advertising revenue and the number of users under 18 years old by using survey data and public census and advertising figures. They then created a model that estimated how much ad revenue the platforms earned from youth. They estimated YouTube derived 27 percent of its 2022 ad revenue from minors, with $959 million coming from users under 12.

“Although social media platforms may claim that they can self-regulate their practices to reduce the harms to young people, they have yet to do so, and our study suggests they have ­overwhelming financial incentives to continue to delay taking meaningful steps to protect children,” said Bryn Austin, the report’s senior researcher and professor in Harvard’s Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

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Maxed minimum

The minimum, non-tipped wage increased in 22 states on Jan. 1. Seven states and Washington, D.C., now require employers to pay $15 or more an hour.

The nation’s capital has the highest minimum wage at $17, with an increase expected in July, followed by Washington state at $16.28. Twenty states kept the federal minimum wage of $7.25, including Georgia and Wyoming, where the minimum wage is $5.15 for farm and seasonal workers, tipped employees, and minors not ­covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act.

In 21 states and D.C., minimum-wage adjustments occur annually. Congress last raised the federal minimum wage in 2009. President Joe Biden raised the minimum wage on federal contracts to $15 an hour in 2022, and it increased to $17.20 in most states on Jan. 1. A federal judge in September blocked the raise from taking effect in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The Labor Department has appealed that ruling. —T.V.

Eye on business owners

Heads up, business owners: Many companies now must tell the federal government who controls them. Beginning Jan. 1, corporations, limited liability companies, and businesses (but not unregistered sole proprietorships) must report ownership information to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. The change is due to the Corporate Trans­parency Act, enacted in 2021 to fight illegal foreign investments in U.S. companies. —T.V.