Industrial Revolution: Deplorable Effects On Children And Family Life

During the Industrial Revolution there were so many great job opportunities for children from the age of 5. Some of these included; working in factories, as chimney sweepers, in Brickworks, in mines and in mills. Because of the many job opportunities cities started to grow and cheaper houses were built (APECSEC.org, 2014). Cheaper clothes were designed then made by the children and the means of transportation changed enormously. Everything became faster, easier and started to cost less, this made the lives of families much easier because the children would be contributing their money towards necessities.

During the Industrial Revolution, there was a major increase in child labor for several reasons. However, the primary causes for this increase in child labor during the Industrial Revolution were particularly unique: They weren’t random, separate, and independent features that just happened to be contemporaneous; they worked in tandem.

The National Child Labor Committee was organized in 1904, they were determined to reduce and or eliminate child labor in the United States. They made the issue present though political action, dramatic pictures of the poor conditions in which children work, pamphlets, and sophisticated lobbying. Then a few years later they tries to emphasize reform through state legislatures. Many laws restricting child labor were passed as part of this movement. But not the entire United States was on board with this movement. So in 1916 and 1918 Congress tried to pass laws against child labor but the Supreme Court declared them unconstitutional. The Great Depression changed the political attitudes of the United States and the National Industrial Recovery Act served to reduce child labor. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 set maximum hours, and prohibited children under 16 from working in manufacturing and mining. This act created more jobs for adults that were previously held by children. Child Labor also declined when new types of machinery were invented reducing the need for small children and some jobs also required higher education levels. The need for education was now clear and the states responded by increasing number of years

Their wages were so low that it was rarely enough even though they worked long hours. Life style The life style of the poor children was simply. During the day they would start with a slice of bread in the morning and go straight to work. They spend most

At five years old, what were you doing? I am almost certain that your answer to this question would not be working over twelve hours a day in a factory, managing heavy machinery, and receiving barely enough money to help support your family. However, this was the reality of thousands of children during the early 1900s. Many people were against child labor and tried to bring reform by enforcing and creating new laws and regulations, but this proved to be difficult due to lack of compliance and government support. The issue of whether or not children should be able to work and if so what regulations must be emplaced upon them have been incessantly discussed and debated. Although many arguments can be made either for or against child labor, I

During the Industrial Revolution and in the Romantic Period, child labor was very common for most of the children that lived during that time. Many of the families were very poor and needed all the extra money that they could get. Children were sent to work in various workplaces such as factories, mines, and even mills. The children received little or no pay from their jobs. The workplaces required extremely long work hours usually from sun up to sun down with very few breaks in between. Most children also received very harsh treatment if they slacked off of their work. The owners of the companies gave little or no attention to the children. They wanted the production to be made each day no matter how hard it was on them.

The Industrial revolution took place in the 19th and 18th century it began it Britain and spread to other parts of the world, it was a time of rural society in Europe and America because industrial and urban. It was the process of going from hand tools to industry and machinery. The Industrial revolution brought many new developments such as economic changes with brag wealth, agricultural improvements, and increased international trade. During the Industrial revolution, children of all ages would face child labour at work some even six years old; they work long hours some hours expanding to 15 hours with little pay. They have terrible working conditions and have much body issue from the pressure that work gives them.

At the beginning of the industrial revolution in America, laws that prevented children from working was not established, and this allowed businesses to utilized children as an inexpensive form of labor. By the 1900s there were over one million children working in the labor force. Most of those young workers were from a poor or immigrant family. They were put to work at an early age usually between five to sixteen years old. In the article, “The History of Child Labor During the American Industrial Revolution” by Jennifer Wagner, discusses about how most of these youngsters worked in unsafe conditions in:

Throughout early eighteenth hundreds child labor was a major issue in American society. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, 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 prominent in families of lower class because this would help add to what 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 ordinary jobs for young children, these jobs required much time, effort, and hard work. These

Children worked up to 19 hours a day for 6 days a week or more depending on their job.(Child Labor in Factories) Each day they would only get one hour of break total out of 19 hours. At the end of the week they would get paid either one dollar or sometimes nothing at all. In the year of 1810 two million children would work for 50 to 70 hours a week.(A History of Child labor) From the year 1802 to 1878 laws started making the work day a little bit shorter.(A History of Child Labor) Even though this was not shortened by very much, the children and families were very thrilled. These last few sentences show that the children worked ridiculously long hours and days during their

The term “child labor” refers to children who work to produce a good or service which is then sold for money in a marketplace. Many of these children were either not paid or paid dismal wages. The exact ages of childhood differ between countries and time periods though it is documented that children as young as four were of idle working age in Britain during the Industrial Revolution (Child Labor during the British Industrial Revolution). The two most common forms of children in factories were “Parish apprentice children,” and “free labor children.”

Although they were unskilled, I type of jobs they would have them do were once that didn’t require little to no knowledge. Because these families were so poor, everyone had to work. Since there were no child labor laws, children were sent to work in coal mines, and silk mills. Women also had to work- mostly in textiles factories or as seamstresses ( “Becoming

Young girls worked as nurses or maids to wealthy families. Children living in the country worked on farms or in cottage industries, while children living in the city “sold matches and swept street crossings”. Child labor was not new, but as industrialization grew it became more prominent, as tattered children crowded the streets.

The Revolution also affected children. When coal became necessary to fuel steam engines, many people were needed to work in coal mines. Children were hires to go into narrow passageways and pick coal. Boys and girls were put to work doing dangerous things that children should not be expected to do. Children also worked in factories. Their small hands came in handy to retrieve broken threads in machines, however many children lost fingers while doing this.

This was the start of child labor issues in the United States. To help support the family, every available family member had to become employed, and the children had the worst working conditions out of anyone. They often worked ten to fourteen hours a day with usually no breaks during work shifts. Rural families also thought it was in their best interest to move to the city. Unfortunately, the children in rural areas also went through most of the same conditions. They worked long hours just like the factory children, and they also were not supervised as much, so there was more of a possibility for things to go wrong (Rich). The main problem with this is the obvious problem; this is mistreatment towards the youth and extremely dangerous and unfair. Fortunately, the rest of the country thought the same way and laws were put in place. According to Child Labor Public Education Project, between the years of 1918 and 1926, Child Labor laws were passed that protected children. Children with non-agricultural jobs that have hazardous situations and tasks have to be at least eighteen years old. For agricultural employment with hazardous situations the minimum age was set at sixteen years of age (Harkin).