Children in the Workplace? Imagine working long days, in unsafe conditions, and risking your life for unfair pay. During the late 19th century and early 20th century, children were working to help support their families and they were not getting an education at the time. Child labor during the Industrial revolution was unfair because children were overworked, underpaid, and uneducated but there were laws passed to help this. First, There is a long line of history behind child labor, and it didn't start off as abuse. Originally farmers used their children to help work on the farm ( History.com staff, 2016). Also, if other farms needed some help they would send their kids over to help ( History.com staff, 2016). After that came the industrial revolution which created many more job opportunities ( History.com staff, 2016). The more time went on the factories hired children because they were cheap and easy to boss around ( History.com staff, 2016). Child Labor really started as kind human interaction, but turned into something abusive. …show more content…
To start off, In factories children were working heavy and big machines, and this was very dangerous (“Child Labor in Factories During the Industrial Revolution”). According to child Labor in Factories During the Industrial Revolution, “Children sometimes worked up to 19 hours a day, with 1 hour total break.” These hours of work meant that the children that were working were not going to schools and getting an education (History.com Staff ,2016). Similarly, The children are also only getting paid little to no money. (“Child Labor in factories during the industrial revolution”). Child Labor was keeping children from getting an education and all for low
During the late 1800’s and the early 1900’s child labor was a social issue that developed in the United States. In the early 1900’s, so many children ages 16 and under were working in American mine and factories. Our kids should not be forced to work at such an early age, they need education and a good childhood that they will always remember. Some children that are as young as 4 years old are being forced to work in crammed, dangerous factories. These factories are full of poisonous fumes and diseases that can obviously kill. Kids as young as 13 are being forced to work around 13 hours a day. Working these 13 hours is exactly what most adults are working at the time. Kids are also earning a lower wage since they are minors, employers
Child labor was very common and popular especially in the late 1800s and early the 1900s even though many people were not aware of the dangers. We can define child labor as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and cause to their physical and mental development. Children are the base of a country but in a developing country child labor is an issue that has yet to disappear. Most of the children remain illiterate because of their poor economic condition and parents do not have enough money to spend on the education of their children, rather they send their children for work so that they could earn some money during their poor economic condition. The objective of my research paper is to raise awareness
Throughout history, children have always worked, either as apprentices or servants. However, child labor reached a whole new scale during the time period of the Industrial Revolution. Throughout the time frame of late 1800s-early 1900s, children worked long hours in dangerous factory conditions for very little wages. They were considered useful as laborers because their small stature allowed them to be cramped into smaller spaces, and they could be paid less for their services. Many worked to help support their families, and by doing so, they forwent their education. Numerous nineteenth century reformers and labor groups sought to restrict child labor and to improve working conditions.
Throughout the 1700’s and the early 1800’s child labor was a major issue in American society. Children have always worked for family businesses whether it was an agricultural farming situation or working out of a family business in some type of workplace. This was usually seen in families of middle or lower class because extra help was needed to support the family. Child labor dramatically changed when America went through the Industrial Revolution. When America’s industrial revolution came into play, it opened a new world to child labor. Children were now needed to work in factories, mills, and mines. These were not ordinary jobs for young children, these jobs required much time, effort, and hard work. “American
The use of children sped up production and made the pool of employees much larger. The benefit of child labor for the workers being able to have more people in the factory. The disadvantage was the fact that children are young and should be spending their time learning and playing opposed to operating machines for 16 hours and never attending school (Document 1). Some communities made child labor an option and enforced education at the same time. These communities were known as working societies. They focused on making nice conditions for children that worked. They took good care of kids and paid them in exchange for work. Safety was a big concern so death rates were very low (Document 5). However, not all companies treated their kids well. Some factories abused child labor, allowing kids as young as three years old to help out (Document 9). Politicians are managers claimed that the kids were just fine and even benefited from working. “I have visited many factories, and I never saw a single instance of corporal chastisement inflicted on a child. They seemed to be always cheerful and alert” (Document 4). Child labor was a debatable topic during the Industrial Revolution because many people depended on it but many other people wanted it to stop because it was
“C: What time did you begin work at the factory? B: When I was six years old” (Testimony on Child Labor in Britain) Children started doing strenuous work at such young ages. Children would often be mentally or physically tormented in life because
Child labor was a cruel and unfair way of using children in unnecessary situations. It was debated for a countless number of years whether child labor was a social problem or a political problem. Children were responsible for completing very dangerous, rigorous, and demanding jobs. Most jobs for the children were completed in factories, farms, and coal mines. Subsequently, the working conditions for the children were not healthy, and it led to life threatening situations. Many would get seriously injured or killed. Some worked until exhaustion and fell asleep on the job, and would experience harsh consequences. Generally speaking, child labor drastically changed the way owners ran their businesses during the Industrial Revolution. The ruthless ways of child labor were never changed for the better until different Acts and Laws were put into place. People were concerned with the social and physical wellbeing of working children in Britain during the Industrial Revolution.
Child workers in factories Children were viewed as a dispensable source of labour during the Industrial Revolution. Evidence of this is that they were given potentially dangerous jobs, worked to the point of exhaustion and harshly punished for their actions. Children were viewed as dispensable because they were given potentially dangerous jobs. The jobs that children were made to do in factories and mines were often in tight enclosed spaces or close to dangerous heavy machinery. Evidence of this can be found in sources one, two and seven.
Child Labor has always been an issue in the United States. The problem today however is not near as bad as it use to be. By 1900, there were 1-2 million children working various jobs across the states. These children primarily worked in factories, fields, mines, seafood plants, and as newsies boys. Employers believed they could benefit from the children
Children most of the time worked in mines, glass factories, textiles, canaries, and home industries. A lot of these industries are filled with dangers that can easily kill them. In this quote “Children as young as six years old during the industrial revolution worked hard hours for little or no pay” (Child labor in factories). A good number of these kids were harassed and mistreated by the factory bosses. If children didn’t arrive on time to work, they would have to be punished by the factory bosses. The punishment was that the children would have to sprint up and down the factory aisle until they were completely drained out of energy and they had to do this nude carrying a backpack full of heavy objects. This caused a lot of children to develop
Child labor was a directly benefited for factories owners and industrialists. Children were cheap and could fit more in the workplace. Therefore, it cost less and required less space for the work to take place Even though laws were passed in the 1900s, but it did not stop mistreatment and there are also laws that were rejected a few times. Since laws were not enforced enough kids are still involved being child labor that is dangerous to their body and mental health. The world didn’t do anything even though they saw the news on how dangerous it is for kids to work at a young age about child labor today.
When most people hear child labor, their minds automatically think of places such as Africa, China, India, and Mali, but the truth is that even in the United States of America, it was a big problem. Child labor peaked especially between the nineteenth and twentieth century on account of the Industrial Revolution. Employers were in dire need of workers, and parents were in dire need of money to sustain themselves, therefore more and more children were forced to work. Children went out and worked in mines, factories, and farms under dangerous and treacherous conditions. People began disapproving and demanded laws to regulate child labor and a reform movement was started.
Again, low wages were a regular practice for children. Sadly the parents of these children wouldn’t even stand up for the sad wages of their own flesh and blood. In the most simple of terms, they needed their children to work. Lastly, the biggest advantage of child workers, is that they fit into small places, for example small kids worked in small mines where adults couldn’t fit. The book “Child Labour in America”, tells multiple stories of children who were raped of their childhood, and physically, mentally, and emotionally abused by their
During the 1800s, Great Britain was making great new changes to its nation new advances in technology, and a rapid growth in the population,especially, in urban areas of the country which resulted in supply and demand. Factory owners only had one problem they didn’t have enough workers, and didn’t want to take lots of money out of their pockets to provide new employees. The solution was finally found they found people who could be paid the cheapest wages, work long hours, and are fast learners, children. These children were working in factories and mines things such as that as young as the age of six years old. Child labor momentous component to the Britain Industrial Revolution succeeding.
Although children had been servants and apprentices throughout most of human history, child labor reached new extremes during the Industrial Revolution.There was a big impact on the daily life of a child labourer as poor children often worked full time jobs with minimal pay in order to help support their families. Young children worked long hours in factories under dangerous conditions. children were easier to manage and control than adults because their size was perfect as it allowed them to move in small spaces in factories or mines.The practice of child labor continued throughout much of the Industrial Revolution until laws were eventually passed that made child labor illegal.