Women and Child Labor Why

Women and Child Labor

Why was there such widespread use of children in the mines and factories?

Economic principles of supply and demand drove the widespread use of children in the mines and factories. On the supply side, families needed their children to work because of necessity even though they were well aware that the children were underpaid, ill-treated and over-worked. Many families were so desperate for money that they actually sold their children as slave laborers who were indebted to work for years. Even before the Industrial Revolution, work by children was traditional and customary. Parents had worked when they were young and required their children to do the same. The prevailing view of childhood for the working-class was that children were considered young adults who should work.

Demand for children was great for a variety of reasons. The Industrial Revolution increased the demand for labor as new factories appeared across the country with few and ineffective laws on how to run them. This was a boon time in commerce, and child labor was viewed as critical to keep it running. Said one parliamentary debater,.." that our great stay and bulwark was to be found in three hundred thousand little girls, or rather in one eighth of that number. Yes; for it was asserted, that if these little girls worked two hours less per day, our manufacturing superiority would depart from us." Although most of the factory and mine workers were subject to exploitation, employers viewed children as even more obedient, submissive, likely to respond to punishment and unlikely to form unions. In addition, since the machines had reduced many procedures to simple one-step tasks, unskilled children could easily replace skilled adult workers. The small stature and suppleness of children was suited to the new machinery and work situations such as machines that were small and built low to the ground and the narrow underground tunnels of coal and metal mines.

What affect did investigations of child labor have on industry?

Investigations made government and the public more aware that very young children worked extremely long hours and were subjected to severe punishment. For example, being late for work lead to large fines and beating. And, the government certainly became aware that children were in unsafe working conditions, being stunted, crippled and deformed by machinery and inappropriate tasks, and becoming ill and dying from unsanitary working conditions.

Government responded to pressures from groups such as the Evangelicals with increased labor reform as described below, but meaningful impact on industry practices is believed to have been insignificant until much later in the century. Minimal fines for violations and lax enforcement of labor laws made it desirable for employers to continue their behavior because the low wages and profits the children generated offset the risks of noncompliance. And, of course, families still needed their children to work and were reluctant to complain.

So, the market forces of supply and demand continued to drive labor practices despite attempts at government reform. Some experts, however, do believe there was some reduction in the number of young working children and reduced labor hours.

What labor reforms came out of these investigations?

Following the investigations, a series of Factory Acts were passed to reform labor practices over many years. The first three were the Factory Act of 1833, the Factory Act of 1844 and the Factory Act of 1847. The Factory Act of 1833 limed hours of employment for women and children in textile work with the following provisions:

Young people (ages 13-18) must not work more than 10 hours a day.

Children (ages 9-13) must not work more than 9 hours (48 hours per week).

Children (ages 9-13) must have two hours of education per day.