Child Labor In The Industrial Revolution

The Victorian era was a dark and hard time for many children. During these times, unlike today, child labouring was a thing which people were accustomed to. A number of  times young kids would go to work rather than school.     First, during this time child labor was a common thing, the kids of many parents in fact would have their children work. Children as young as 3 years old, would work in coal mines and factories to help support their families.

Children in the mines are put in hazardous conditions. Their bones can be damaged before they are even full grown. “ More than 200 million children today are child labourers. An estimated 120 million are engaged in hazardous work” ( The World Counts, 2014). Child Labor is a life threatening to children today and in the past.

Starting in 1880, the evils of child labor were increasing fast. Children weren’t just working on their family’s farm; they were slaving in mills, sweatshops, and factories. Children were not only losing a chance at an education, but they were becoming ill, injured, and some were even being killed because of the dangerous working conditions they were slaving in. The dangers of children in the workforce are well-known, and many U.S. people disagree with the fact that children, most younger than eight, are able to work in such evil conditions. “That the evil exists; that certainly hundreds of thousands and more, probably over one million, children are even now either being killed or utterly destroyed for that citizenship on which this free

The people of the Industrial revolution brought many financial and working changes within the war (History Channel: Industrial Revolution). In which the lower class worked and lived in horrible conditions while the upper class had better authority (History channel Show: Industrial Revolution). They had to work for long hours and hardly got paid, that brought them to a situation where they started having their kids work (Children Who Built Victorian Britain). There was no amount of modern or fiscal progress that could advocated the price of a human

“What difference is there in the color of the soul?” said Solomon Northup in 12 Years a Slave. Those who were enslaved were owned by masters who were generally very cruel. Slaves were treated as they were only there to work, not to thrive, and barely to survive. Slaves were often put on plantations that normally had farms for them to work on. Their working conditions were poor and the days were long.

They were in need of work, so they went to the city. Later urban population kept gradually increasing until it reached 41 percent by 1851. The duration of the agricultural revolution, Britain developed mechanisms to lead its way to the industrial revolution. Series of little drastic changes, benefits from profitable trading, and feeding the population made it possible. The agricultural revolution set the stage for the industrial revolution because raw materials, workers, merchant marine, and geography had some sort of start in

In that period, children as young as six started to be employed in the factories and coal mines, mostly in inhuman conditions with long hours, however they could gain little payments. In 19th century this children exploitation was rise up. Children began to important worker after the slaves. Children uses like a adult and they did not have any protection and rights in European country. On the other hand, this conditions caused growing opposition and also inspired by the literature.

The working conditions were hazardous and many men, women, and children died from accidents that would happen with the machinery. “If the English worker died of starvation or was injured by accident in the mills, it mattered not to the employer, for he was not legally liable, and the worker’s place could be supplied from among the thousands ready to work for even a bare subsistence.” Men and women would have to work hard for long hours and receive only a low wage. Adult men were paid more than women or children, but their wages were still not enough to support a

Many admitted to being beaten when they were late as children, having only an hour off at noon to eat, and children had to work in the poor and often dangerous conditions. In the same interviews presented to Parliament, a worker reported working from six in the morning until eight at night, an average of fourteen hours per day for mere cents, and that was during the ‘normal’ production months. Long hours, low wages, and child labor were nothing new to the poor, but the conditions still took a toll on families. Hours and hours went into work, which left little time for a family to spend time with one another, and children not able to learn skills from their parents once the industrialization of the common world came into play, not only in Britain but also on a worldwide scale.

In Britain child labor laws were a necessity, but when were they finally put into place? What resulted from the implementation of those laws? Child labor was wildly common in Britain during the Industrial Revolution. Kids as young as the age of five were forced to work. Some families had to have every member of their family work to provide enough money for food and shelter.

Tuttle,Carolyn. Edited: Robert Whaples “ Child labor during the British industrial revolution.” .EH.Net Encyclopedia. August 14, 2001.

Francis Truncale USSO 10100 While child labor has existed for much of America’s history, it is not until the industrial revolution, where changes in perception of childhood and adolescence took place, that it is seen as a social problem; combined with deplorable working conditions, this led to reforms that were seen as necessary for the welfare of children. To understand this, it is important to know the typical lives of children in preindustrial society. Prior to the industrial revolution, children were employed without social backlash. In preindustrial society, the household was the center of production and consumption. As a result, children worked within the household or on a family farm at this time .

The work environment was unsanitary and many people were getting sick and or dying. Although, the Industrial Revolution was sad, in the end the western civilization was able to extend their power and become more well

Children were put in situation where they had to choose between school and work. Most times the choice was work because they had to support their family. Child laborer took advantage of this. They hired children from about ages four to fourteen to work in factories or on the farm. The children worked long hours with minimal breaks.