Child Labor Laws
Why To Not Support Child Labor Laws!
Addie Card
"Addie Card, 12 years. Spinner in North Pormal
Maine Laws
Maine's child labor laws were first enacted in 1847, and strengthened repeatedly over the years.
New York Labor Laws
Factory inspectors had the job of enforcing child labor laws that kept children out of factories. These laws were often ignored.
Workface: In The Industrial Revolution
When the industrial revolution first came to Britain and the U.S., there was a high demand for labor. Families quickly migrated from the rural farm areas to the newly industrialized cities to find work. Once they got there, things did not look as bright as they did. To survive in even the lowest level of poverty, families had to have every able member of the family go to work. This led to the high rise in child labor in factories.
Wages & Hours
Children as young as six years old during the industrial revolution worked hard hours for little or no pay. Children sometimes worked up to 19 hours a day, with a one-hour total break. This was a little bit on the extreme, but it was not common for children who worked in factories to work 12-14 hours with the same minimal breaks. Not only were these children subject to long hours, but also, they were in horrible conditions. Large, heavy, and dangerous equipment was very common for children to be using or working near. Many accidents occurred injuring or killing children on the job.
Treatment
The treatment of children in factories was often cruel and unusual, and the children's safety was generally neglected. The youngest children, who were not old enough to work the machines, were commonly sent to be assistants to textile workers. The people who the children served would beat them, verbally abuse them, and take no consideration for their safety. Both boys and girls who worked in factories were subject to beatings and other harsh forms of pain infliction.
Movements to Regulate
There were people in this time period that strongly advocated the use or the abolishment of child labor, or at least the improvement of conditions. Factory owners loved child labor, and they supported their reasoning with ideas that it was good for everything from the economy to the building of the children's characters. Parents of the children who worked were almost forced to at least approve of it because they needed the income. There were, however, some important figures that fought for the regulation, improvement, and/or abolishment of child labor.
How do conditions influence the development of societies?
Conditions influence development of society by jobs, it's influenced this way because people with jobs and because they have little to no money they have to let their children work. It may not be fair but at least the family has clothes on their back, shoes on their feet, food on their table, and shelter. Back then for people to keep things like that their children had to work just as much as they did. Women back then weren't paid as much as men, women got about $.10, girl got maybe a nickel, Men got about $.25, and boy probably got maybe $.15. So they didn't have lots of money, but at least they had some to feed their children and their selves so they didn't starve to death. This is one way that working conditions influenced societies.
Why I Don't Agree
I don't agree with child labor laws, one because they don't get any money for the hard earned work they've done. Second because, the pay for the young girls and the young boys. Like little girls would get maybe a nickel for their hard earned work they've done, boys on the other hand would get maybe a dime plus a nickel but the young females get a nickel for their hard earned work and maybe they might have did more work or better work then the boys then. But me personally that is why I don't agree with child labor laws.