Child Labor In Victorian England
Child Labor in Victorian England
"The report described the children as Chained, belted, harnessed like dogs black, saturated with wet, and more than half-naked, crawling upon their hands and knees, and dragging their heavy loads behind them'" (Yancey 34). This quote from Ivor Brown probably best describes the strenuous work preformed by a child laborer during the Victorian Era. Child laborers played an important part in developing the country's economy. Children, one of the main sources of labor in Victorian England, endured less than adequate living and working conditions.
During the Victorian Period children were good sources of labor. Beginning work as young as six or seven employers saw many benefits to hiring children (Yancey 33). …show more content…
Generally the living quarters of laborers were poorly built, rotting, even falling down, with little ventilation. There was no indoor plumbing causing people to throw human waste on unpaved streets. Houses were often crowded and rented by the room or even by the corner. Dirty floors and leaky roofs did not stop people from living in over crowded basements and attics (McMurtry 159).
The majority of the day of young workers was spent without their family. The factory system split up families for as much as fourteen hours. The time they did have together was either spent eating or sleeping. Young daughters developed no housewife skills because they were working and their working mother was not there to care for and teach them. The role or father was decreased since he was not the sole supporter of the family (Harrison 74). The life of a child laborer was much like this; thus they learned little about life (Harrison …show more content…
Two of the most commonly heard of jobs included servants and sweatshop workers. Boys and girls became household servants around ten or twelve. They would help around the house doing all sorts of different activities and odd jobs. Children were required to follow many rules around the family since they were of the lower class. Younger servants could not even be seen, heard, or around the family or their friends (McMurtry 169). Sweatshops were very small makeshift factories, usually ran by poor immigrants. The daily conditions of the shops were dirty, cramped, and unventilated. Fire was a serious threat because escape routes were usually narrow stairs that were hard to climb. Though most shops were illegal, Parliament did not stop them since the economy's stability relied on their operation (Yancey
"The report described the children as Chained, belted, harnessed like dogs black, saturated with wet, and more than half-naked, crawling upon their hands and knees, and dragging their heavy loads behind them'" (Yancey 34). This quote from Ivor Brown probably best describes the strenuous work preformed by a child laborer during the Victorian Era. Child laborers played an important part in developing the country's economy. Children, one of the main sources of labor in Victorian England, endured less than adequate living and working conditions.
During the Victorian Period children were good sources of labor. Beginning work as young as six or seven employers saw many benefits to hiring children (Yancey 33). …show more content…
Generally the living quarters of laborers were poorly built, rotting, even falling down, with little ventilation. There was no indoor plumbing causing people to throw human waste on unpaved streets. Houses were often crowded and rented by the room or even by the corner. Dirty floors and leaky roofs did not stop people from living in over crowded basements and attics (McMurtry 159).
The majority of the day of young workers was spent without their family. The factory system split up families for as much as fourteen hours. The time they did have together was either spent eating or sleeping. Young daughters developed no housewife skills because they were working and their working mother was not there to care for and teach them. The role or father was decreased since he was not the sole supporter of the family (Harrison 74). The life of a child laborer was much like this; thus they learned little about life (Harrison …show more content…
Two of the most commonly heard of jobs included servants and sweatshop workers. Boys and girls became household servants around ten or twelve. They would help around the house doing all sorts of different activities and odd jobs. Children were required to follow many rules around the family since they were of the lower class. Younger servants could not even be seen, heard, or around the family or their friends (McMurtry 169). Sweatshops were very small makeshift factories, usually ran by poor immigrants. The daily conditions of the shops were dirty, cramped, and unventilated. Fire was a serious threat because escape routes were usually narrow stairs that were hard to climb. Though most shops were illegal, Parliament did not stop them since the economy's stability relied on their operation (Yancey