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). Adolescents were a significant part of the labor force because they could be paid lower wages (Cody). Also their naturally small and nimble hands and bodies were easily maneuverable. Employers most often hired children over adults because kids were powerless and would not revolt (Yancey 33). Economic conditions forced poor children into working, sometimes as hard and long as their parents (Cody). Essential to the economy, Parliament supported child labor saying a child was more useful to
One of the most brutal forms of child labor was chimney sweeping. This time period was characterized by the use of children to help develop the economy. Child laborers led very hard and grossly disgusting lives of filth. Houses were often crowded and rented by the room or even by the corner. The daily conditions of the shops were dirty, cramped, and unventilated. Sweatshops were very small makeshift factories, usually ran by poor immigrants. In 1833 a law was passed limiting the amount of hours kids could work in textile factories, and in 1842 the law was extended to child in mines. Poorly heated, dim factories full of unskilled workers put many innocent children in danger. Many children tried to avoid school mainly because of the hot, noisy, odorous, and unsanitary classroom environment.
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