Social, Political And Scientific Developments On Health Status

In the 19th century I think children missed out on most of their childhood as most of them took on jobs such as chimney sweepers, street sellers and farms for example. These were mainly children from poor families who were seen as extra farm hands and were exploited by receiving low pay for long hours and working in poor conditions. Families did not look at how the children were treated and the possible impact

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.

As concerns about the welfare of children rose in the mid-1800s, Parliament (the English government legislature) held investigations to find out the conditions of children workers. Below is an interview between a parliamentary investigator

P2: Describe the Origins of Public Health Policy in the UK from the 19th Century to the Present Day.

This essay will compare the 19th, 20th and 21st century in relation to the main public health strategies used in United Kingdom. It will also compare the similarities and differences of the living conditions in towns and cities between the three named centuries above.

During the industrial revolution in Britain, the usage of child labourers dramatically increased as it became a cheap and easy form of labour. This lead to the continued abuse of many children in textile factories. In 1833, the Factory Act of 1833 was put forth which dictated that no children under the age of nine would work. Children ages nine to thirteen wouldn’t work more than nine hours a day and children ages thirteen to eighteen wouldn’t work more than twelve hours a day. In addition it introduced the circulation of four factory inspectors who were to enforce the new legislation. They were to certify whether children had received their compulsory education of two hours each day and report conditions to the government. This act brought forth attention and sparked debates from the public which made stronger note of the working conditions for children.

In 1815, the British Parliament sent out researchers to interview child workers and learn more about factory conditions. Factory owners often preferred to hire women and children because men expected higher wages. Children were hire to work in Great Britain’s coalmines. There was soon some reforms for child workers and a proposed law to limit their workday to 10 hours. In the end, there were connections among child labor, factory conditions, and attitudes about capitalism, reactions to capitalism and the rise of labor movements.

“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

By first showing that children, before the turn of the 19th century are “frail”, “lost”, and “horrif[ied]”, it shows one of the first ideas about the children. By not allowing the children to work, the author displays an ironic stance on how the children are unfulfilling in society, in reality he shows that children are simply just being children. However, once not having the opportunity to work, the author implies that children will not benefit from employment due to a lack of childhood. This is shown once, the author turns to the overly exuberant benefits of employment as “generous”, “steady”, “drastic”, an ideal situation for many working class families. This shows that many corporations/ factories using these appeals to draw the attention of the working children, thus limiting them from other important factors such as an education. However, the author transitions from implied connotative words with more notable hypothetical examples to dig deeper into the

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

This is a report of a young man who worked on a cotton mill from the age of thirteen in 1832. It shows how dangerous and hard it is while working on the mills. The man being interviewed explains how the children being born from factory workers are much smaller and the children not being born to parents who are factory workers. Primary source document fourteen addresses the changes in child labor during the Industrial Revolution. The same parliament that addresses the conditions of the factory workers addressed the child labor issues in the factories.

In the 19th century child labor was a very common practice for the working class. The working class did not receive enough financial support that was needed to provide for their families. During this time period the class system was still in place and many of the working class people did not have the same human rights and constitutional rights that those of the middle and upper class people had. This class system was very strict and very little support was given to those who were in need financially. England was also going through a transformation at the time. This included the industrial revolution and a change in government in 1837. These changes caused people to leave their agriculture careers and move to the city to pursue a job that was new and fresh.

In the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century of England, the Industrial Revolution occurred. It is marked as an important movement in history because it introduced steam-driven machinery, large factories, and a new working class. With new manufacturing, job opportunities opened up. As the demand for employees rose, that is when the working class also began to rise. However, it not only included adults but children as well. The main reason for children to work is because it benefits the employers and their families economically. Employers made profit by having children work for low wages, and the money the children made would go towards the family income and necessities to survive. The low adult wages would not suffice for a neutral family or extended, so children had no choice but to work and help support their family. Although in need of money, there were too many dangers involved when the children were working. As a result of this, the state legislation had Acts passed for the children’s safety. The Industrial Revolution had many upsides in modernizing England, but it also uncovered that children should not be seen as workers needing money, but as young human beings that need education and protection, and the only way to initiate this is with the involvement of the state.

(Laslett, 1970) Coupled with these innovations was the new concept of applying scientific methodology to industrial processes. (Laslett, 1970) All of these changes, while beneficial to businesses, did little to improve the lot of the industrial laborer. (Laslett, 1970) One of the key complaints of an entirely unregulated labor force in the late 1800s was the extensive use and abuse of child labor. In 1870, nearly three quarters of a million children between the ages of ten and fifteen worked in hazardous aspects of manufacturing, agriculture and street trade. (Laslett, 1970) By 1880, that number was over one point one million, or one in every six children in that age group. (Laslett, 1970) By 1900, that number doubled. The conditions under which children worked were very dangerous. They worked the same shifts as adults (about 12 hours a day, six days a week), denying them the opportunity for school and play. (Laslett, 1970) The factories, mills, mines and other work venues in which they labored were unsafe and unregulated. Children were also often used in the most dangerous aspects of industrial work, such as clearing jammed machines or working in confined spaces too small for adults. (Laslett, 1970) In 1881, only seven states had any kind of regulation laws for child laborer. Desperate for money to survive, immigrants and working-class Americans forged