How was the Social Problem addressed during the Industrial Age (social movement, law, etc.)?
Was the Social Problem addressed successfully? Be sure to support your opinion with evidence from the lesson or your research.
Is the Social Problem still an issue today? How?
Child Labor
Child labor quite common back then because all the members of a family had to help with income. They did dangerous and hard work made for adults just to get ridiculed, taken advantage of and for the pay of only a few pennies. Factory owners hired them for the factory because their hands were small enough to fit into the machinery to fix something if it were broken. They not only worked in factories, but also coal mines and they harvested crops. Their work days were about 12 hours a day. That is way too much for someone so young.
I think the issue was addressed as best as it could have been. Nothing was perminatley solved for a while, but it was certainly Mary Jones and other reformers. A main priority for some of the first social reform in the United States centered on passing laws to prevent child labor. At the time, labor unions were trying to assert their power. But most of the time they got overlooked because of the fight for higher wages and better working conditions. However, social reformers were very much aware that heartless and greedy bosses were taking advantage of children. Mary Harris “Mother” Jones was a hardworking, devoted woman who fought for the rights of workers, including child laborers. She inspired men, women, and children to action. Mother Jones was a leader of several things, but child labor became her most important cause.
Yes. Every day, children across America are working in environments harmful to their social and educational development, their health and even their lives. “Child labor today is at a point where violations are greater than at any point during the 1930s,” said Jeffrey Newman of the National Child Labor Committee. “ Violations are occurring today on farms and businesses around the country. Farm owners beat the system by allowing their entire family, including the children, to work under one person’s social security number or by hiring a farm contractor who, on the books, counts as only one employee (while the contractors’ then hire whomever they wish). “Businesses aren’t worried about the child labor violations that they commit because the laws are rarely enforced. One report found that the average business could expect to be inspected once every 50 years or so. Inspectors spend only about five percent of their time looking into child labor problems.”
Social Gospel Movement
This issue was addressed by the Social Gospel Movement. This movement urged the wealthy to help less fortunate people. There were no government programs to help the people in poverty so that encouraged the wealthy people to form this movement so that way the poor would have the help they needed since the government didn’t provide any social services.
Yes. It was addressed successfully, because For those who believed in the Social Gospel, helping the poor was their duty. They wanted to help the less fortunate develop skills, receive job training, and find opportunities to help them out of poverty. Their goals went to shortening the length of the workday, more so for working mothers. The movement used the emerging field of social science to study the characteristics of improvised neighborhoods, aka poverty neighborhoods. They used social surveys to explore the ethnic makeup of neighborhoods, as well as income and employment information. Using social survey maps, the devoted people could target where their efforts were most needed. This was the beginning of what is known today as social work. Unlike the careless government, these people worked so hard to make better lives for these people living in poverty.
Yes, of course poverty is still an issue, but now the government actually provides social services to help the poor. For example food stamps, welfare, job training and now health care. This is different from back then because it’s actually coming from the government and not a group of wealthy people.
Poverty
This issue was addressed by the Settlement House Movement. People who were poor, as a community had no place to live. So settlement houses served as a community center providing a home for the homeless. The center was operated by middle-class, college-educated Protestant women who lived at the facilities.
Yes, it was addressed successfully. The facility provided adult education classes, kindergartens, and job training. They also provided nursing care for the people who had no access to health care or hospitals. They had great living conditions. They supported themselves through donations. The complex thrived into such a beautiful facility with an abundant of things and volunteers. As settlement houses matured. They urged local governments to provide public parks, libraries, and playgrounds for city residents. They worked to improve wages for women, reduce the length of their workweek, and regulate child labor.
Yes, poverty is a worldwide issue in almost every state if not every single one. But just like back in the day where they had community homes now a days they have homeless shelters. Some are fancier than others, but they provide shelter for the homeless. Families, single women with children. These shelters provide beds, food and water and many other things. Most shelters are located in more rural areas where poverty Is the highest. So poverty now and poverty then isn’t much different, but these days there is a lot more support and help for the poor.