Child Labour In The Industrial Revolution

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.

From quitting school and getting paid a minimum of 25¢ to continuing school and getting paid a minimum of $4.25. During the Industrial Revolution, children would seek work in order to provide for their families and leave school doing so. History.com claims that “In 1900, 18 percent of all American workers were under the age of 16.” Many employers would hire children because they were easier to manage and ultimately could be paid less than adults. Today there are many restrictions on child labor that provide a safe work environment and rights for the youth. Labor conditions have changed since the Industrial Revolution thanks to reform movements and have paved the way for the safer modern day conditions.

Huge numbers of people suffered during the time of Industrialization. People could not be lazy and had to work extremely hard, and those who did not would eventually die or be left in the dust. This was a time when people were beginning to make new incredible inventions and advancements in technology. Also, factories were recently introduced and this created new job openings and opportunities. Unfortunately this all came with a price. People started hiring children to work because they were cheaper and also gave their employees poor, horrible working conditions. Also due to all the job openings, people would flock to the cities till they were overcrowded and this lead to small cramped living spaces. Children suffered immensely because they were paid less and worked just as hard as adults.

child could not earn much, but even a few pence would be enough to buy

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 labor is the use of children in industry or business, that can deprive them from their childhood, keep them away from attending school, and that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful. This practice have numerous occurrences all through history and is one of the worst forms of child exploitation, particularly, with during the industrial revolution. Over the years it has grown to become one of the many serious social issues around the world. According to statistics provided by UNICEF, there are an estimated 250 million children aged 5 to 14 years employed in child labor worldwide and this figure is continuously increasing. Even with the standardized federal labor laws in effect in 1938 not a lot has changed. Child labor not only causes damage to a child’s physical and mental health but also keep him deprive them from their basic rights to education, childhood, and freedom. Child labor has very bad effects on the society that can result to consequences that can exploit the future generation.

During the 18 and beginning of the 19th century in certain regions of the U.S child labor made up more than 40 percent of the population (Wolensky). That’s almost half of the working population. Since the beginning of time children have always been known to help their families with domestic tasks. Most of these kids worked in factories because they were easy to control and paid less than adults. Kids earned less than half of what adults made in the work force. In these factories they usually cleaned under and inside machines while functioning because of their small size.. That’s how these kids felt as it was described in a article in our history book. They were always in danger of getting hurt or even dying, which many did. Kids as young

Throughout the American Industrial Revolution, child labor in industries such as textiles, agriculture, mining, manufacturing, laboring, street work, and domestic work was endemic in the United States. Several factors, including mechanization, urbanization, industrialization, poverty, labor shortages, and lack of regulation were the primary causes for this increase in child labor. Children, as young as three years old, worked from sunrise to sunset in factories, mines, fields, and mills where conditions were excruciating. The arduous work resulted in myriad deleterious effects, namely, afflictive injuries, pitiful deaths, and bleak futures. In order to curtail the abusive conditions, numerous people championed the rights of child laborers and ultimately achieved their concordant goal of gaining federal regulation of minimum employment ages, permissible types of jobs, and duration of work hours for youths.

Since the early 19th century child labor has always been socially accepted and tolerated. Often times it was enforced by parents in order to sustain a way of living for families, but at the turn of the century the Industrial Revolution only made it more apparent that forcing children to perform manual labor would be considered unethical. In fact, thee issue of child labor has never been extensively researched or viewed as detrimental until recently. However, this issue of child labor isn’t just a violation of ethics, or as the author of Child Labor In Human Rights Law and Policy Perspective, Burns H. Weston, states, “it is undeniable and indisputable that child labor is a human rights problem, with increasing recognition all over the world

Child labor laws have been put in place to protect children who desire to work. During the time of the Industrial Revolution, children were being treated harsh and unfairly. Because of this, it was decided to put in place certain laws to avoid the unfair treatment of these children. These laws include a limitation of age, hours and days worked, and the amount paid. These labor laws are very important to the safety of the working children in our nation.

Throughout the ages since pension was an orthodox method of a growing industry and economy, rights of workers have been vastly improving since the beginning of the industrial revolution up until the present day; however there are still protests occurring all over America, and even more so around the world. Unfortunately, even if we do have the creations of the Union and equality rights, there are still injustice acts going around these said created laws and organizations, one of those being child labor laws.

Child Labor in the 1700s and 1800s was a definite form of abuse to children because they were often severely underpaid, worked much longer hours than even an adult should, and were often exposed to harsh and dangerous conditions. Children were on average five times cheaper to employ then adults, and were expected to work the same hours- which, in mining communities, could mean 14 hour days (Britain , Great. “Report on child labour, 1842.” The British Library, The British Library, 6 Feb. 2014, www.bl.uk/collection-items/report-on-child-labour-1842).

I am lucky enough to come from family where the necessities are provided without fail and education is never a question. For this reason, I’m particularly interested in researching the general topic of child labor; as child laborers have and continue to live a life that starkly contrasts mine and that I can’t yet understand. I chose to research the conditions of child labor in the U.S. during the Industrial Revolution versus present day, as well as the reforms/movements responsible for the positive or negative development of child labor ( again, from the Industrial Revolution to present day in U.S.). Within this area of research, I will also be exploring the juxtaposition of perspectives regarding child labor that influenced these reforms/movements: including

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.