History of Child Labor

Child Labor
Child labor is employing children who are under aged to work as determined laws of a state. This practice is considered to be exploitative in many countries and international organizations.

Earlier, child labor was not a big problem as children used to accompany their fathers in agriculture and other jobs. The industrial revolution brought up the dispute over child labor, as schooling became more important, and concepts of laborers and rights of children were developed.

History of child labor states that industrial revolution saw children working Factories, mines, and even having his own small business like selling food, flowers and doing much unusual kind of jobs. Some children started being tourist guides, some set up a small shop of their own and some opened up restaurants in their backyards and worked as waiters too. Some children however chose to be actors and singers.

Children working in factories were forced to do jobs of high stress levels like assembling boxes, polishing shoes. Many jobs had children held up in small houses doing various jobs and were not within the reach of officials and inspectors.Most controversial forms of child exploitation included military use of children, child prostitution.

History has witnessed many children involved in military campaigns in spite of this activity being against the cultural morals. It was a custom for youths from the Mediterranean basin to serve as aides, charioteers, and armor bearers to their adult counterparts. A few examples can be found in Bible (David serving his King Saul), Greek Mythology (Hercules and Hylas). In Greece, this practice was considered to be an educational tradition, and the Man/Boy couple was considered to be an efficient fighting force. Hitler Youth (Hitlerjunged or HJ) was an official organization in the Nazi Army. During the Battle of Berlin, this youth force was a major part of the German Defenses.

History of Child Labor

Although, child labor was not new to the world, it is believed that during 1780 and 1840, there was a massive increase in child exploitation. During the Industrial revolution, it was very common to find children working in factories. In 1788, more than 60% of workers in textile mills of England and Scotland were children. Many laws were passed to eradicate child labor, but hardly succeeded.

By now, many people were aware of increasing demand for educated workforce and the people of upper class had started to rule over the poor children. The demand for educated workforce provided all the extra reasons for children to join school. But there were parents who could not afford to send their children to schools, and hence children volunteered to work in factories, mines, mills etc.

In mines, children were to crawl through tiny pits to reach the coalface, and also were to operate on the ventilation ports. In mills, this child workforce grew annually. Out-working others and long working hours with more intensity was the dream each child had, and this would mentally challenge them.

Federal Laws against Child Labor
In 1830s many US states enforced laws to restrict the employment of young children in industries. But this had no effect on the rural communities as children were working in the farms, mills and factories.

Families led lives which were dominated by their employers. Their company would pay them with overpriced goods of the company, and allocate them houses in the company owned villages. For these amenities, the entire family would work for more than 72 hours a week, with men for heavy, women and children for lighter works.

The companies were manipulative as well. The laws of state became stringent and regulated work conditions, limited the child labor. But these laws were not applicable to immigrants and now the companies would exploit the people living in slums, make them work longer hours, for a small pay.

The laws in America were always ignored, until 1904, when the National Child labor committee was formed by concerned people. This committee was chartered by Congress in 1907. When these people visited industries to inspect if they violated laws, young children were rushed out of their sight. Often the owners said that these children had come to the factory or mill for paying a visit to their mothers, or were helping their mothers.

After many attempts, many states passed stringent laws, and banned child labor. In 1938, Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act, also known as Federal Wage and Hour Law. This became constitutional in 1941 after a declaration by the US Supreme Court.

According to this act, no child would work more than 40 hours a week, the minimum wage would be 40 cents per hour. Minors below 16 are not to work in those industries which are classified to be hazardous. There were no age restrictions for children to work in non-hazardous environment. Children were to work only outside their school hours and during vacations, but only for limited hours.