Child Labor: Work or School
Today in the twenty-first century it is mandatory for all kids to be in school to get an education. Unfortunately for the children, in the late 1800s and early 1900s it was a time where education wasn’t a priority and having a job to help their family financially was. As history has it children were mostly servants or being trained to work. Child labor increased in the time of the Industrial Revolution with the invention of power driven machinery. Child labor in the late 1800s and early 1900s had a lot of health and risk factors on children, it had a major impact on society and thankfully plenty of laws and reforms were passed.
Child labor in the premature 1800s consisted of many children working in factories and farms with little concern for their well-being and health. In 1890 the U.S. Census Bureau revealed that 1.5 million children between the ages of 10 and 14 were employed. In the United States of America, you are considered a child if you are under 18 years of age. Most parents did not think that their child working at such an early age was harmful to the overall well-being of their offspring. They were not aware that their children working on a farm were being exposed to dangerous chemicals from the pesticides and children were working in contaminated conditions which made them susceptible to all kinds of illnesses and infections. When children would work on farms they were around all types of unpredictable animals and newly invented
Child Labor During The Progressive Era Before the extensive reforms in child labor during the Progressive Era, a substantial number of children were working with long hours and meager salaries, especially after the industrialization of factories. Due to the fact that business owners found many benefits in hiring children rather than adults, such as their smaller sizes and lower salary requirements, child labor was extremely widespread. The census of 1890 disclosed the fact that more than a million children, who ranged from the ages of 10-15, endured child labor. Children experienced many ailments such as heavy coal dust from working with coal and fumes from glasswork. Child Labor
Child labor was a big deal and parents have to worry about their child not starving. The food use to be sitting out. If you would it; you would most likely become sick. The kids didn’t get any free time because they were working Child labor law was passed so that only a limited age can work. They would also low pay them for working. In the article (A History Of Child Labor) it states “In the United States it took many years to outlaw child labor. By 1899, 28 states had passed laws regulating child labor. Many efforts were made to pass national child labor law. The U.S. Congress passed two laws, in 1918 and 1922, but the supreme Court declared both unconstitutional. In 1924, Congress proposed a constitutional amendment prohibiting child labor, but the states did not ratify it.” Children coming home late is a problems because the crimes in the city.
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
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.
Conditions of factories were not safe for anyone, let alone a small child. Due to these conditions many children died before their prime. Many children “began work at age 5, and generally died before they were 25” (www.victorianweb.org), America was beginning to lose an entire generation due to these working conditions that so many had to endure. Children were hired at an alarming rate. “In 1870, the first time census reported child workers, there were 750,000 workers in the United States age 15 and under, not including those who worked on family farms or in other family businesses” (“Child Labor in America”), these numbers were not something that was looked over, it astonished many. “A cotton manufactory of 5 or 6000 spindles will employ those 200 children” (Bremner 232). The workforce would continuously grow, hiring more and more children each day. Factories were good for using children as a means of their productivity. “Textile factories, for the most part […] were in the forefront of this industrial revolution, and children formed an essential component of the new industrial workforce” (Bremner 232). Many times without these children working some of these factories would not have survived through the revolution.
The practice of Child Labor in America in the early 1900s had a devastating impact on generations of children. This mainly impacted children of poor and disadvantaged families; these families tended to suffer from generations of debt or were new immigrants to America. These children worked long hours which they did not get paid nearly enough for. They worked hard, dangerous jobs daily. In the 1900s, children chose to support their families in times of need rather than furthering their education, for which they did not get paid nearly enough. These jobs affected their health poorly and had a negative impact on their childhood and development. Children of poor families in cities suffered the most during the Industrial Revolution, because they had to work long hours, did hard jobs, and often sacrificed their health and education to support their struggling families.
One of the many reasons why Industrialization is a negative impact on society is that it caused child labor. Child workers vary from ages 5-17.Child labor is when child work for money to support their family. There were not a lot of different types of jobs for child, but some of the job opportunities were coal miners, factory workers, and
Child labour, which began in the early 1800’s and ended around the 1920’s. Child labour was commonly used to help poor/immigrant families receive more money. According to history.com it states, “25 percent of the employees were below the age of fifteen, with half of these children below age twelve. In addition, the horrendous conditions of work for many child laborers brought the issue to public attention.” This reveals children worked even below the age of 15 and even 12 years old. They weren't given tolerable working conditions despite their young age. Also according to american-historama.org it states, “The typical hours of work lasted from sunrise to sunset, 11 or 12 hours per day, six days a week. They had less than one hour break in their working day … They earned an average weekly wage of one dollar.” This shows children worked a considerable number of hours and only earned little wage. Lastly according to scholastic.com it says “Many children began working before the age of 7, tending machines in spinning mills or hauling heavy loads. The factories were often damp, dark, and dirty. Some children worked underground, in coal mines. The working children had no time to play or go to school, and little time to rest. They often became ill.” This shows at very young ages children began work as they worked in damp, dark, and dirty work areas. However in
Child Labor, once known as the practice of employing young children in factories, now it's used as a term for the employment of minors in general, especially in work that would interfere with their education or endanger their health. Throughout history and in all cultures children would work in the fields with their parents, or in the marketplace and young girls in the home until they were old enough to perform simple tasks. The use of child labor was not a problem until the Factory System. The Factory System is a working arrangement where a number of people cooperate to produce articles of consumption. Some form of Factory system has existed even since ancient times.
One problem in the 1900s was child labor, which was not an uncommon sight in the factories. The children who worked at these factories would be exposed to harsh chemicals and could possibly lose and arm or limb to the machineries. Children as young as 16 years old would work in those unsafe, overcrowded factories instead of going to school to receive an education. To resolve the child labor issue, many states begun passing laws that made child labor illegal. As shown in the illustration in document 7, the state of Georgia passed the Georgia Child Labor laws, which took children out of Georgia Factories and into schools for education (document 7). Also shown in document 2, in
The use of child labor became so bad that by 1900, 18% of all American workers were under the age of 16. (History Channel) Most of this workforce were children of poor families, making it almost impossible for the child to leave their job. Their pay and compensation was only despite working 12 hour days, 6 days a week. (Social Welfare)
“The demand for labor grew, and in the late 19th and early 20th centuries many children were drawn into the labor force. Factory wages were so low that children often had to work to help support their families. However, child laborers rarely experienced their youth” (National Archives). Child labor was a “normal” thing to many people
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
Children had long working hours, about twelve hours a day and six days a week. Some argue that children working on farms also put in long hours. However, farmers have shorter hours in the winter because of the lack of plants being grown. According to The American Nation, “In the early 1800’s, conditions in American mills were generally much better than in most factories in Europe. As industries grew, however, competition increased and employers took less interest in the welfare of their workers.” So, as each factory grew and the competition became larger, the safety for each worker went down. Also, you were born in the early 1800’s; you may have been working as early as the age of seven years old. Today, child labor is illegal in the United States. Child Labor is cruel, and unnecessary; especially in factories. Also, child labor is very dangerous. Children can get their hands or fingers cut off by the unsafe factories. “Small children were especially useful in textile mills because they could squeeze around the large machines to change spindles.” (The American Nation). In other words, there was a better chance of you losing a hand than getting a raise. No one should be working long hours in such hazardous
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.