Child Labor In The 1800s Essay
“Children as young as four years old worked long hours in factories under dangerous conditions. The practice of child labor continued throughout much of the Industrial Revolution until laws were eventually passed that made child labor illegal.”
http://www.ducksters.com/history/us_1800s/child_labor_industrial_revolution.php
Why did employers prefer to hire children than adults?
Employers loved to hire children for many factors. Children did not have to get a lot pay. They were cheap labor and there was plenty of them, and sometimes they weren’t paid any currency at all, instead their payment being “shelter and being kept away from starvation”. Furthermore, they worked hard and for long amounts of time, typically for 19 hours a day with …show more content…
Many children were forced to work in relatively bad conditions for much lower pay than their elders, earning 10–20% of an adult male's wage. Children as young as 4 years old were employed. Beatings and long hours were common, with some child coal miners and hurriers working from 4 am until 5 pm.Conditions were dangerous, with some children killed when they dozed off and fell into the path of the carts, while others died from gas explosions. Many children developed lung cancer and other diseases and died before the age of 25. Workhouses would sell orphans and abandoned children as "pauper apprentices", working without wages for board and lodging.Those who ran away would be whipped and returned to their masters, with some masters shackling them to prevent escape. Children employed as mule scavengers by cotton mills would crawl under machinery to pick up cotton, working 14 hours a day, six days a week. Some lost hands or limbs, others were crushed under the machines, and some were decapitated. Young girls worked at match factories, where phosphorus fumes would cause many to develop phossy jaw.Children employed at glassworks were regularly burned and blinded, and those working at potteries were vulnerable to poisonous clay
http://www.ducksters.com/history/us_1800s/child_labor_industrial_revolution.php
Why did employers prefer to hire children than adults?
Employers loved to hire children for many factors. Children did not have to get a lot pay. They were cheap labor and there was plenty of them, and sometimes they weren’t paid any currency at all, instead their payment being “shelter and being kept away from starvation”. Furthermore, they worked hard and for long amounts of time, typically for 19 hours a day with …show more content…
Many children were forced to work in relatively bad conditions for much lower pay than their elders, earning 10–20% of an adult male's wage. Children as young as 4 years old were employed. Beatings and long hours were common, with some child coal miners and hurriers working from 4 am until 5 pm.Conditions were dangerous, with some children killed when they dozed off and fell into the path of the carts, while others died from gas explosions. Many children developed lung cancer and other diseases and died before the age of 25. Workhouses would sell orphans and abandoned children as "pauper apprentices", working without wages for board and lodging.Those who ran away would be whipped and returned to their masters, with some masters shackling them to prevent escape. Children employed as mule scavengers by cotton mills would crawl under machinery to pick up cotton, working 14 hours a day, six days a week. Some lost hands or limbs, others were crushed under the machines, and some were decapitated. Young girls worked at match factories, where phosphorus fumes would cause many to develop phossy jaw.Children employed at glassworks were regularly burned and blinded, and those working at potteries were vulnerable to poisonous clay