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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 his
family working (Altick 249). Child laborers led very hard and grossly disgusting
lives of filth. Generally the living quarters of laborers were poorly built,
rotting, even falling down, with little ventilation. There was no indoor
plumbing causing people to throw human waste on unpaved streets. Houses were
often crowded and rented by the room or even by the corner. Dirty floors and
leaky roofs did not stop people from living in over crowded basements and attics
(McMurtry 159). The majority of the day of young workers was spent without their
family. The factory system split up families for as much as fourteen hours. The
time they did have together was either spent eating or sleeping. Young daughters
developed no housewife skills because they were working and their working mother
was not there to care for and teach them. The role or father was decreased since
he was not the sole supporter of the family (Harrison 74). The life of a child
laborer was much like this; thus they learned little about life (Harrison 74).
Despite its major importance education played a very small role in the lives of
children. In the Victorian Era there was a refined belief that education was not
needed (Altick 249). Few working kids had more then two or three years of
schooling (Altick 250). In 1840 only twenty percent of the youth population had
any schooling at all (Cody). Then in 1870 the Education Act was passed stating
that all children, ages five through ten, must attend school. Yet, it was not
until 1881before the act became nation wide (Child Labor). Many children tried
to avoid school mainly because of the hot, noisy, odorous, and unsanitary
classroom environment. School buildings were inadequate along with
schoolteachers. Most of the teachers were not properly trained and were usually
failures in life.
Children often picked work over school due to the fact that
working earned them money while school earned them nothing (Altick 250). There
were many different indoor jobs a child laborer could have during the Victorian
Period. Two of the most commonly heard of jobs included servants and sweatshop
workers. Boys and girls became household servants around ten or twelve. They
would help around the house doing all sorts of different activities and odd
jobs. Children were required to follow many rules around the family since they
were of the lower class. Younger servants could not even be seen, heard, or
around the family or their friends (McMurtry 169). Sweatshops were very small
makeshift factories, usually ran by poor immigrants. The daily conditions of the
shops were dirty, cramped, and unventilated. Fire was a serious threat because
escape routes were usually narrow stairs that were hard to climb. Though most
shops were illegal, Parliament did not stop them since the economy’s stability
relied on their operation (Yancey 28). Two of the most popular jobs during the
era involved outdoor work; they were chimney sweeping and mining. One of the
most brutal forms of child labor was chimney sweeping. Many young boys would
apprentice with masters to be trained adequately. They learned how to climb
inside chimneys to clean off the soot and creosote. However, there were many
dangers like burns, falls, and suffocation. Mining quickly turned into the most
dangerous of child occupations (Yancey 33).
People who worked in mines faced
daily threats of cave-ins and explosions (Yancey 27). Girls and boys as young as
five worked twelve to sixteen hours a day. Children were sent down to haul up
loads of coal from crammed passages (Yancey 33). Often accidents would occur
when children lost hold of mine carts causing them to run over them (Yancey 34).
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. Finally in 1847
Parliament outlawed females and boys under ten from working in mines (Child
Labor). The environment a child worked in during this time period was, at the
least very dangerous. Textile mills were crowded and poorly ventilated causing
such diseases as fossy jaw, black lung, and other fatal lung diseases. In the
factories candles were used for lighting. These easy to knock over light sources
were a huge fire hazard (McMurtry 155). Poorly heated, dim factories full of
unskilled workers put many innocent children in danger. The lack of knowledge
about machinery caused workers to be crushed, mangled, or beaten to death in
belts. Often polluted and unsanitary buildings caused much death and illness
(Yancey 27). During the Victorian Era children were often mistreated and
subjected to the poorest of working and living conditions. This time period was
characterized by the use of children to help develop the economy. Child laborers
received less than the essentials needed at home, school, and at work. The life
of a young worker was in essence a life of a slave.
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