In England and Scotland in , two-thirds of the workers in water-powered cotton mills were described as children. Employers paid a child less than an adult even though their productivity was comparable.
There was no need for strength to operate an industrial machine and since the industrial system was completely new, there were no experienced adult laborers. The Victorian era overlapping with approximately the last decade of the Industrial Revolution and largely with what is known as the Second Industrial Revolution in particular became notorious for the conditions, under which children were employed.
Children as young as four worked long hours in production factories and mines in dangerous, often fatal conditions. In coal mines, children would crawl through tunnels too narrow and low for adults.
They also worked as errand boys, crossing sweepers, shoe blacks, or selling matches, flowers, and other cheap goods. Some children undertook work as apprentices to trades considered respectable, such as building or as domestic servants there were over , domestic servants in London in the midth century.
Working hours were long: builders worked 64 hours a week in summer and 52 in winter, while domestic servants worked hour weeks. Agile boys were employed by the chimney sweeps. Small children were employed to scramble under machinery to retrieve cotton bobbins and in coal mines, crawling through tunnels too narrow and low for adults.
Many young people worked as prostitutes the majority of prostitutes in London were between 15 and 22 years of age.
Child labor existed long before the Industrial Revolution, but with the increase in population and education, it became more visible. Furthermore, unlike in agriculture and cottage industries where children often contributed to the family operation, children in the industrial employment were independent workers with no protective mechanisms in place. Children as young as four were employed.
Beatings and long hours were common, with some child coal miners and hurriers working from 4 a. Conditions were dangerous, with some children killed when they dozed off and fell into the path of the carts, while others died from gas explosions. Many children developed lung cancer and other diseases. Death before the age of 25 was common for child workers. Those child laborers who ran away would be whipped and returned to their masters, with some masters shackling them to prevent escape.
Children employed as mule scavengers by cotton mills would crawl under machinery to pick up cotton, working 14 hours a day, six days a week. Some lost hands or limbs, others were crushed under the machines, and some were decapitated. Young girls worked at match factories, where phosphorus fumes would cause many to develop phossy jaw, an extremely painful condition that disfigured the patient and eventually caused brain damage, with dying bone tissue accompanied by a foul-smelling discharge.
Children employed at glassworks were regularly burned and blinded, and those working at potteries were vulnerable to poisonous clay dust. In addition, since the machines had reduced many procedures to simple one-step tasks, unskilled workers could replace skilled workers. Finally, a few scholars argue that the nimble fingers, small stature and suppleness of children were especially suited to the new machinery and work situations.
They argue children had a comparative advantage with the machines that were small and built low to the ground as well as in the narrow underground tunnels of coal and metal mines. The Industrial Revolution, in this case, increased the demand for child labor by creating work situations where they could be very productive. Whether it was an increase in demand or an increase in supply, the argument that child labor laws were not considered much of a deterrent to employers or families is fairly convincing.
Since fines were not large and enforcement was not strict, the implicit tax placed on the employer or family was quite low in comparison to the wages or profits the children generated [Nardinelli ]. On the other hand, some scholars believe that the laws reduced the number of younger children working and reduced labor hours in general [Chapman and Plener ].
Despite the laws there were still many children and youth employed in textiles and mining by mid-century. Booth calculated there were still 58, boys and 82, girls under 15 employed in textiles and dyeing in In mining the number did not show a steady decline during this period, but by there were 30, boys under 15 still employed and girls under See below.
There are many opinions regarding the reason s for the diminished role of child labor in these industries. Social historians believe it was the rise of the domestic ideology of the father as breadwinner and the mother as housewife, that was imbedded in the upper and middle classes and spread to the working-class. Economic historians argue it was the rise in the standard of living that accompanied the Industrial Revolution that allowed parents to keep their children home. Although mandatory schooling laws did not play a role because they were so late, other scholars argue that families started showing an interest in education and began sending their children to school voluntarily.
Finally, others claim that it was the advances in technology and the new heavier and more complicated machinery, which required the strength of skilled adult males, that lead to the decline in child labor in Great Britain. Although child labor has become a fading memory for Britons, it still remains a social problem and political issue for developing countries today. Alfred Samuel Kydd. The History of the Factory Movement. London: Simpkin, Marshall, and Co.
Booth, C. XLIX : Chapman, S. The Lancashire Cotton Industry. Manchester: Manchester University Publications, Clapham, Sir John. An Economic History of Modern Britain. I and II. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Collier, Francis. Manchester: Manchester University Press, Cruickshank, Marjorie. Children and Industry. Cunningham, Hugh.
Engels, Frederick. The Condition of the Working Class in England. Translated by the Institute of Marxism-Leninism, Moscow. London: E. Hobsbaum, []. Employers in the garment industry have turned to the children of illegal immigrants in an effort to compete with imports from low-wage nations. Despite laws limiting the number of hours of work for children and teens still attending school, the increasing cost of education means many are working longer hours to make ends meet.
State-by-state enforcement of child labor laws varies to this day. Child Labor in U. The University of Iowa. History of Child Labor in the United States. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Child Labor. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us!
Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. The labor movement in the United States grew out of the need to protect the common interest of workers. For those in the industrial sector, organized labor unions fought for better wages, reasonable hours and safer working conditions.
The labor movement led efforts to stop child The Industrial Revolution brought not only new job opportunities but new laborers to the workforce: children. By , at least six percent of all American workers were under the age of For employers of the era, children were seen as appealing workers since they could be The Industrial Revolution marked a period of development in the latter half of the 18th century that transformed largely rural, agrarian societies in Europe and America into industrialized, urban ones.
Goods that had once been painstakingly crafted by hand started to be Labor Day will occur on Monday, September 6. Labor Day pays tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers and is traditionally observed on the first Monday in September. Some of the children suffered serious injuries if they became fatigued, including scalping from machine. Children were hired in the coal mines as trappers, where they would open a trap door by pulling on a string when they saw the coal carts coming.
Older kids worked as coal bearers, carrying large baskets of coal on their backs. Later in life — if they lived that long — they suffered from a variety of lung ailments, even cancer.
There were no workplace safety laws in place. Although the British government outlawed the use of boys as chimney sweeps in , owners of large houses continued to employ them. The typical sweep began his career as young as 5 years old.
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