Children of the time relied on their ability to work as many lived in extremely poor households, Poverty being one of the biggest problems of the time (Oxford University. 2013. 66:421)). These jobs also provided children with the opportunity to develop skills that they would use later on in their lives to be successful in their professions (Hutchins, Hariison, 1911:6). Some of the most common jobs …show more content…
This Act stated that apprentices (children up to the age of 12-13) should work no more than 12 hours an day and that the amount of hours worked by night should be gradually reduces until it was abolished completely. Apprentices should be provided with clothes once a year and proper sleeping arrangements should be made, with different rooms for different genders. Apprentices should also be able to visit church once a month and they should be instructed in reading and writing. These laws should be upheld by routine inspections. Peel stated that he saw these regulations not as laws but as an extension of the Elizabethan Poor