CHILD LABOR

BACKGROUND

• Child labor was used in mines, mills and factories
• Children were used for cheap, unskilled labor like collecting cotton under a loom
• Children could perform repetitive tasks, many hours a day
• Labor was detrimental to children's health, caused long term problems and severe injury
• Nearly 2/3 of workers were children in some factories

RICHARD ARKWRIGHT'S FACTORY (1,150 WORKERS)

• Children were paid 1/10 of an adults salary

PROGRESSION

• Child labor was instituted at the beginning of the industrial revolution
• Was a continuation of the cotton industry
• Children worked up to 14 hours a day
• It wasn't until 1830 that parliament began regulating child labor

EFFECTS ON CHILDREN

• Children were often injured working near heavy machinery
• Could have long term lung damage or disease because of poor air quality
• They could be abused by managers or factory owners
• Factories bred vice