Bachmann: I've been a 'private business woman' since 5-years-old

There's at least one thing about Michele Bachmann (R-MN) that Newt Gingrich (R-GA) can appreciate: She says she's been a "private business woman" since she was 5-years-old.

For the past few weeks, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich -- who Bachmann referred to as "Newt Romney" -- has been calling to end the "truly stupid" restrictions on child labor in the U.S.

Durings Saturday night's Republican presidential debate on ABC, Bachmann declared she had been in the work force since the age of five.

"I'm 55-years-old," Bachmann noted. "I've spent 50 years in the real world as a private business woman living a real life and building a real business."

It's not clear what career Bachmann was pursuing as a 5-year-old, but much of her life was not spent as a "private business woman."

She worked as a tax litigation attorney for the Internal Revenue Service between 1988 and 1993. In 1993, she put her career on hold to become a full-time mother.

By 1999, Bachmann had entered the political arena, eventually losing a bid for the school board in Stillwater, Minnesota. Undeterred, she was elected to the Minnesota Senate the following year. Since 2006, she has served in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Watch this video from CNN's State of the Union, broadcast Dec. 11, 2011.