"Comparing cosmetology to policing might say more about cosmetology than policing.
Colin Kaepernick again weighed in on the important topic of police abuse of power this week, stating:
“[Y]ou can become a cop in six months and don’t have to have the same amount of training
as a cosmetologist.
That’s insane.
Someone that’s holding a curling iron has more education and more training than people that have a gun and are going out on the street to protect us.”
We don’t know what the right amount of training for a police officer is, but the amount of training a person must receive in order to practice cosmetology is certainly insane.
As the Institute for Justice has shown over and over again in its research and litigation,
cosmetology licensing is about protecting existing practitioners from new competition, not about ensuring health and safety.
In IJ’s latest study on the issue, Angela Erickson found that requiring hair braiders to take thousands of hours of cosmetology training does nothing to enhance consumer safety:
“[A]cross seven years and 10 jurisdictions, just nine complaints with health and safety issues were received for unlicensed braiders—just over one per year and just less than one per jurisdiction.
Further, none of the complaints alleging consumer harm were verified by licensing boards.”
Cosmetology licensing does seem to do one thing well, though:
It generates plenty of complaints about the licensing status of cosmetologists—by other cosmetologists." (Heritage Foundation-insider)
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[
Institute for Justice]
Executive Summary
African-style hair braiding is a traditional art and a time-tested way of caring for tightly coiled Afro-textured hair naturally, without scissors, heat or chemicals.
Yet,
in most states, people who wish to braid for a living must first obtain a government permission slip—an occupational license requiring up to
2,100 hours of training.
This study investigates whether the natural craft of braiding poses risks that justify occupational licensing and whether
braiding licenses create barriers that keep people out of work..."
