Child Labor during the Industrial Revolution

During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries Great Britain became the first country to industrialize. Because of this, it was also the first country where child labor became a major social and political issue.  My blog will be discussing the social issue of child labor during the British Industrial Revolution.

Defining child labor: “Involves children being enslaved, separated from their families, exposed to serious hazards and illnesses and/or left to fend for themselves on the streets of large cities – often at a very early age” – International Labor Organization

Child labor before the industrial revolution included chores around the house or assisting with family businesses. The family’s household needs determined the family’s amount of labor.  Children carried out different tasks that were supportive to their family’s well being therefore they contributed to their family by general labor, household tasks, and assisting with family duties (caring for younger children). Children who lived on farms worked in the fields planting seeds, harvesting or working with the livestock.  Gender roles came into play as the boys were made to look after the cattle and sheep, and girls were made to milk the cows, and look after the chickens. Children who worked within the home were domestic servants, apprentices, chimney sweeps, or assistants in family enterprises. As apprentices, children lived and worked with their masters who paid them in training in trade rather than wages. By the time these boys turned 21 they had enough skill to open their own business. At the age of 12 it was common for most girls to leave home to become servants in the homes of traders, shopkeepers and manufacturers. They were paid a low wage, and received room and board in exchange for household chores that included cleaning, cooking, caring for children and shopping.

Child labor within the early industrial revolution included work within mills. These child apprentices were impoverished orphans taken from orphanages and were housed, clothed and fed but received no wages for their long day of work in the mill. After the invention of the Watts Steam engine, more factories were developed around England and began to hire children from impoverished or working class families to prepare cotton, flax, wool and silk. It was then that child labor became a social/political issue due to the fact that children were working in dreadful conditions. These children worked for twelve to sixteen hours a day, six days a week, not having any relief for meals in hot, stuffy, poorly lit, overcrowded factories to earn as little as four shillings per week.  

Below is part of an autobiography of a man who lived these conditions.

“Jonathan Saville (born 1759)

    Until I was seven years old, I lived partly with my father and grandmother and partly in Horton Workhouse. I was then bound apprentice to a man . . . he turned me over to the colliers in Denholme; on which my father said to him, ‘I had rather you'd tied a stone round his neck, and drowned him’. I was a fine, growing, active lad at that time. I saw some cripples in the house of my new master, and the thought came across me that I was to share the same fate with them. At first I was taught to spin worsted; but it was not long before I was taken to the Coal-pit.” (Humphries, 2012)

What was happening to these children became a debate that resulted in key laws that were passed. The three that most involved the welfare of children were “1) the Cotton Factories Regulation Act of 1819. This law set the minimum working age at 9 and maximum working hours at 12. 2) The Regulation of Child Labor Law of 1833. This law allowed there to be paid inspectors to enforce the laws. 3) The Ten Hours Bill of 1847. This law restricted the amount of hours worked to 10 for both children and women.” (Tuttle, 2003). Today, society would view this law as being restricting to women and causing inequality among genders; so it is interesting to compare how times have changed and how women’s rights have developed.

The decline of child labor could be attributed to many things. Some ideas include the establishment of roles within the family (father is the breadwinner, mother is a housewife), interest in education (sending their children to school), or advances in technology that only strong adult men were able to operate. Though the issue of child labor in Britain has become history, it continues to remain a large issue within developing countries today.

Alexandra

References:

Tuttle, Carolyn. (2003). "Child labor during the British industrial revolution". EH.Net Encyclopedia. Retrieved from

http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/tuttle.labor.child.britain

International Labor Organization. (n.d). “What is child labor”. International Labor Organization. Retrieved from

http://www.ilo.org/ipec/facts/lang--en/index.htm.

Humphries, J. (2012). “Childhood and child labor in the British industrial revolution”.  The Economic History Review. Wiley Online Library. Retrieved from

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-0289.2012.00651.x/abstract