How Has Child Labor Affected During The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution had many aspects, one of which was Child Labor which happened from 1760-1840 and is still occurring to this day. During this period, children were used as labor in factories, mines, and agriculture. This happened because children were cheaper to hire than adults, and they kept the costs low. Young children were paid an insufficient amount of money to climb under dangerous machinery and to move coals through narrow shafts. This often led to their tiny hands and feet being crushed, some even decapitated. For example, a doctor from Manchester, England gave the following report in an 1819 interview. “When I was a surgeon in the infirmary, accidents were very often admitted to the infirmary, through the children's hands
This act limited the hours that children would work and placed rules in workplaces based on safety. At first, there was limited power to enforce the acts, but as the century progressed the rules were carried out more strictly (Child Labor in the Industrial Revolution, 2024). Many people didn’t like how the government was interfering with their lives since some parents needed their children to go to work at a young age so that they had money to feed the family (Figure 2). Overall, the Factory Act had a positive impact on young children as it improved the working conditions, and children under 13 years of age started to get at least 2 hours of schooling each day. To sum up, Child Labor during the period of the Industrial Revolution is a significant event that to this day is remembered. Children were often preferred over adults, which meant that children would be doing the same duties as what an adult would do, but for a much cheaper rate. They were working long hours which caused them not to get an education or any type of schooling. That was until the Factory Act was put into effect in 1833, where everything changed, and the working conditions had
During this period, children were used as labor in factories, mines, and agriculture. This happened because children were cheaper to hire than adults, and they kept the costs low. Young children were paid an insufficient amount of money to climb under dangerous machinery and to move coals through narrow shafts. This often led to their tiny hands and feet being crushed, some even decapitated. For example, a doctor from Manchester, England gave the following report in an 1819 interview. “When I was a surgeon in the infirmary, accidents were very often admitted to the infirmary, through the children's hands and arms having been caught in the machinery; in many instances, the muscles, and the skin is stripped down to the bone, and in some instances a finger or two might be lost. Last summer I visited Lever Street School. The number of children at that time in school, who were employed in factories, was 106. The number of children who had received injuries from the machinery amounted to very nearly one-half. There were forty-seven injured in this way.” (Child Labor in the Industrial Revolution, 2024). Before child labor had taken place, young children were already active members of a household, meaning that, children would help around the house and assist when they could. Children who live on the farm can help with the animals or in the fields