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http://www.history.com/topics/child-labor
http://hubpages.com/business/Child-Labor-Laws-Then-and-Now

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Exploitative, hazardous child labor is still a realty in many nations today. Child labor is poorly documented, so the exact number of child laborers is hard to determine. UNICEF estimates that about 150 million children between the ages of 4 and 16 work and the International Labor Organization estimates that about 215 million children under the age of 18 work, many of them full time. For children between the ages of 5 and 17:

1 in 4 living in sub-Saharan Africa work.

1 in 8 living in Asia Pacific work.

1 in 10 living in Latin America work.

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During the late 1700s and 1800s, child labor became increasingly harsh. As industry spread, many factory and mine owners sought child laborers because they could be paid lower wages, fit between (or inside) the machinery, and were less like to strike than their adult counterparts. Unsafe industrial working conditions caused frequent illness, injury, and even death for these child workers. The new, brutal face of industrialized child labor finally created an outcry and a 100-year battle to restrict child labor in the United States.

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Has the child labor really changed form the time it started to the present day? But you'll think "well yea it has there aren't as many children working as before." Well that's part of it but the that not only in it, in U.S. other parts of the world (ex. sub-Saharan Africa) were children that have to work for themselves or for younger siblings and sacrificing not going to school to earn money .

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Even with these laws there are other parts of the world were child labor still exists to this day.

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In 1900, 18 percent of all American workers were under the age of 16.

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The new supply of child workers was matched by a tremendous expansion of American industry in the last quarter of the nineteenth century that increased the jobs suitable for children. The two factors led to a rise in the percentage of children ten to fifteen years of age who were gainfully employed. Although the official figure of 1.75 million significantly understates the true number, it indicates that at least 18 percent of these children were employed in 1900. In southern cotton mills, 25 percent of the employees were below the age of fifteen, with half of these children below age twelve. In addition, the horrendous conditions of work for many child laborers brought the issue to public attention.

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Then finally in 1938, Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act.

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Two national child labor laws were passed in 1918 and 1922, but the supreme court declared them unconstitutional

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The History of Child Labor

Child labor has existed throughout human history. For most of this time, child labor was an accepted fact - no one thought it was immoral or wrong, or that 'kids should be kids.' For thousands of years, children worked on family farms plowing fields, sewing seeds, tending animals, and helping with domestic chores. Children were held in indentured servitude and slavery, and served as apprentices, but public opinion did not really turn against the practice until the 19th century.

During the late 1700s and 1800s, child labor became increasingly harsh. As industry spread, many factory and mine owners sought child laborers because they could be paid lower wages, fit between (or inside) the machinery, and were less like to strike than their adult counterparts. Unsafe industrial working conditions caused frequent illness, injury, and even death for these child workers. The new, brutal face of industrialized child labor finally created an outcry and a 100-year battle to restrict child labor in the United States.

Today, child labor still exists in many of the world's nations. While many of these hold jobs that are not exploitative or harmful to their long-term health, far too many children do work harmful, exploitative jobs. Child labor is on the decline, worldwide, but the rate of decline has slowed in recent years and modern child labor is considered one of the 21st century's greatest human rights issues.

Child Laborers in an American Coal Mine

Child Labor in the 19th Century

In industrializing nations like the United States and Great Britain, child labor, and protests against it, grew during the 19th century. This upswing in child labor and protests occurred for three major reasons:

The number of child laborers increased.

Children increasingly held dangerous industrial jobs instead of family business or agricultural jobs.

Modern ideas about childhood began during the 19th century - young people were no longer seen as miniature adults, but as children who should attend school, play, and be sheltered from the 'evils' of the world.

In poor families, children were expected to contribute to the family budget. Their contributions were frequently small - a boy doing the job of an adult man might receive as little as 10% of an adult's wages. During the 19th century, children worked a variety of jobs, but were frequently employed in factories because they were small enough to fit on, in, or between the machines. Evidence indicates that children as young as four sometimes worked in factories! Their small size also made them popular in coal mines because they could fit in tunnels too small for adults. Children who didn't work in factories frequently found employment selling cheap items, such as newspapers and matches.

Because of the demand for domestic servants, particularly in Victorian England, young children might be able to find work as a servant. While it wasn't always as day-to-day dangerous as working in a mine, being a domestic servant came with its own set of difficulties. Servants frequently had to work 80 hour weeks and were in constant danger of being sacked. Employers might actually set traps for their maids to check for honesty and thorough cleaning. For example, someone might hide a coin under a rug. If the maid cleaned the room and left the coin in place, she might get fired for not removing the rug to clean the room thoroughly. If she kept the coin, she would be fired for theft!

Children Working in a Mill

Protest Against Child Labor, 1909

19th Century Protests Against Child Labor

Protests against child labor in the 19th century began the slow process of child labor regulation. The following is not a complete list of every protest, proposal, and passage of a law, but it does highlight the major child labor milestones.

The first American child labor law was passed in 1836 in Massachusetts. This law stated that all children under the age of 15 who worked in factories had to attend school three months a year.

In 1842 Massachusetts passed a law limiting children to 10 hour work days. While some other states followed suit, these laws were infrequently enforced.

In 1876, labor unions began advocating that children under 14 be barred from working.

In 1883, the first major victory for child labor reform was won when Samuel Gompers and the New York labor movement successfully sponsored a piece of legislation banning cigar making in tenements. Previously, thousands of children had been employed in the cigar-making industry.

The 20th Century and Child Labor

During the 20th century, real progress against child labor was finally made in the United States. After several false starts, failed Constitutional amendments, and laws that were declared unconstitutional, in 1938, the Fair Labor Standards Act set a federal minimum working age and restrictions on the number of hours children could work.

American Child Labor Laws Today

In the United States today, these are the basic federal child labor laws:

Generally, children under 12 may not be employed, unless they work for their parents, deliver newspapers, have certain agricultural jobs, or are child actors.

Children between the ages of 12 and 16 may be employed in safe occupations, as long as they work during approved (non-school) hours and work a limited schedule.

Children between 16 and 18 may work unlimited hours in non-hazardous occupations.

These laws are designed to ensure children can complete their education and only work in non-threatening, non-exploitative environments. Individual states may have their own, more stringent, child labor laws.

Child Labor in the 21st Century

Exploitative, hazardous child labor is still a realty in many nations today. Child labor is poorly documented, so the exact number of child laborers is hard to determine. UNICEF estimates that about 150 million children between the ages of 4 and 16 work and the International Labor Organizatio n estimates that about 215 million children under the age of 18 work, many of them full time. For children between the ages of 5 and 17:

1 in 4 living in sub-Saharan Africa work.

1 in 8 living in Asia Pacific work.

1 in 10 living in Latin America work.

While child labor rates peaked in the early 20th century, the rate of decline has slowed in recent years. In spite of global reduction in child labor, child labor in sub-Saharan Africa has actually increased in recent years.

Not all child labor is exploitative or dangerous. However, all child labor does have the potential to interfere with a child's education and hamper his/her physical and mental development. Additionally, child labor creates a cycle of poverty. Under-educated child laborers cannot find decent jobs as adults, so their children are forced to work, as well, feeding an intergenerational cycle.

Today, the chief body fighting child labor worldwide is the International Labour Organization through its International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour.

Stopping Modern Child Labor

Child labor is an international problem with far-reaching consequences. A problem of this magnitude cannot be solved by any one nation or corporation, no matter how large or powerful it may be.

If you want to join the fight against child labor, I urge to to visit UNICEF's website or the Global March Against Child Labour to learn about child labor and exploitation and how they lead to poverty. Also, check out the Sweatshop Hall of Fame to learn which major brands and companies use child labor - you may be surprised!

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Child labor has existed throughout human history. For most of this time, child labor was an accepted fact - no one thought it was immoral or wrong, or that 'kids should be kids.' That began changing in the 19th century and, today, child labor is strictly regulated in most western nations.

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Although children had been servants and apprentices throughout most of human history, child labor reached new extremes during the Industrial Revolution. Children often worked long hours in dangerous factory conditions for very little money. Children were useful as laborers because their size allowed them to move in small spaces in factories or mines where adults couldn't fit, children were easier to manage and control and perhaps most importantly, children could be paid less than adults. Child laborers often worked to help support their families, but were forced to forgo an education. Nineteenth century reformers and labor organizers sought to restrict child labor and improve working conditions, but it took a market crash to finally sway public opinion. During the Great Depression, Americans wanted all available jobs to go to adults rather than children.

The minimal role of child labor in the United States today is one of the more remarkable changes in the social and economic life of the nation over the last two centuries. In colonial America, child labor was not a subject of controversy. It was an integral part of the agricultural and handicraft economy. Children not only worked on the family farm but were often hired out to other farmers. Boys customarily began their apprenticeship in a trade between ages ten and fourteen. Both types of child labor declined in the early nineteenth century, but factory employment provided a new opportunity for children. Ultimately, young women and adult immigrants replaced these children in the textile industry, but child labor continued in other businesses. They could be paid lower wages, were more tractable and easily managed than adults, and were very difficult for unions to organize.

Did you know? In 1900, 18 percent of all American workers were under the age of 16.

The educational reformers of the mid-nineteenth century convinced many among the native-born population that primary school education was a necessity for both personal fulfillment and the advancement of the nation. This led several states to establish a minimum wage for labor and minimal requirements for school attendance. These laws had many loopholes, however, and were in place in only some states where they were laxly enforced. In addition, the influx of immigrants, beginning with the Irish in the 1840s and continuing after 1880 with groups from southern and eastern Europe, provided a new pool of child workers. Many of these immigrants came from a rural background, and they had much the same attitude toward child labor as Americans had in the eighteenth century.

The new supply of child workers was matched by a tremendous expansion of American industry in the last quarter of the nineteenth century that increased the jobs suitable for children. The two factors led to a rise in the percentage of children ten to fifteen years of age who were gainfully employed. Although the official figure of 1.75 million significantly understates the true number, it indicates that at least 18 percent of these children were employed in 1900. In southern cotton mills, 25 percent of the employees were below the age of fifteen, with half of these children below age twelve. In addition, the horrendous conditions of work for many child laborers brought the issue to public attention.

Determined efforts to regulate or eliminate child labor have been a feature of social reform in the United States since 1900. The leaders in this effort were the National Child Labor Committee, organized in 1904, and the many state child labor committees. These organizations, gradualist in philosophy and thus prepared to accept what was achievable even if not theoretically sufficient, employed flexible tactics and were able to withstand the frustration of defeats and slow progress. The committees pioneered the techniques of mass political action, including investigations by experts, the widespread use of photography to dramatize the poor conditions of children at work, pamphlets, leaflets, and mass mailings to reach the public, and sophisticated lobbying. Despite these activities, success depended heavily on the political climate in the nation as well as developments that reduced the need or desirability of child labor.

During the period from 1902 to 1915, child labor committees emphasized reform through state legislatures. Many laws restricting child labor were passed as part of the progressive reform movement of this period. But the gaps that remained, particularly in the southern states, led to a decision to work for a federal child labor law. Congress passed such laws in 1916 and 1918, but the Supreme Court declared them unconstitutional.

The opponents of child labor then sought a constitutional amendment authorizing federal child labor legislation. Congress passed such an amendment in 1924, but the conservative political climate of the 1920s, together with opposition from some church groups and farm organizations that feared a possible increase of federal power in areas related to children, prevented many states from ratifying it.

The Great Depression changed political attitudes in the United States significantly, and child labor reform benefited. Almost all of the codes developed under the National Industrial Recovery Act served to reduce child labor. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which for the first time set national minimum wage and maximum hour standards for workers in interstate commerce, also placed limitations on child labor. In effect, the employment of children under sixteen years of age was prohibited in manufacturing and mining.

This success arose not only from popular hostility to child labor, generated in no small measure by the long-term work of the child labor committees and the climate of reform in the New Deal period, but also from the desire of Americans in a period of high unemployment to open jobs held by children to adults.

Other factors also contributed in a major way to the decline of child labor. New types of machinery cut into the use of children in two ways. Many simple tasks done by children were mechanized, and semiskilled adults became necessary for the most efficient use of the equipment. In addition, jobs of all sorts increasingly required higher educational levels. The states responded by increasing the number of years of schooling required, lengthening the school year, and enforcing truancy laws more effectively. The need for education was so clear that Congress in 1949 amended the child labor law to include businesses not covered in 1938, principally commercial agriculture, transportation, communications, and public utilities.

Although child labor has been substantially eliminated, it still poses a problem in a few areas of the economy. Violations of the child labor laws continue among economically impoverished migrant agricultural workers. Employers in the garment industry in New York City have turned to the children of illegal immigrants in an effort to compete with imports from low-wage nations. The recent liberalization of the federal government's rules concerning work done at home also increases the likelihood of illegal child labor. Finally, despite the existing laws limiting the number of hours of work for those still attending school, some children continue to labor an excessive number of hours or hold prohibited jobs. Effectiveness in enforcement varies from state to state. Clearly, the United States has not yet eliminated all the abuses and violations, but it has met the objective of the child labor reformers and determined by law and general practice that children shall not be full-time workers.

Walter Trattner, Crusade for the Children: A History of the National Child Labor Committee and Child Labor Reform in America (1970).

IRWIN YELLOWITZ

The Reader's Companion to American History. Eric Foner and John A. Garraty, Editors. Copyright © 1991 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Although children had been servants and apprentices throughout most of human history, child labor reached new extremes during the Industrial Revolution. Children often worked long hours in dangerous factory conditions for very little money.