1920s Child Labor Essay

In the 1920s, there were about 1 million children ages 10 to 15 working. The children were working on farms, in factories, served as messengers, and they did just about everything. They were working long hours throughout the day and only getting paid minimum wage. Factories would choose children instead of adults and they would pay the children less money. The children would go to work instead of getting an education and going to school. Child Labor had stolen a child's childhood away. This harms their mental health and physical development. Child Labor is work for children who are forced to work because of their family’s poor condition, but it is harmful for their growth physically, mentally, and/or emotionally.
NPR--1920s
The History Channel

Businesses like hiring children then because they had lower wages than adults, and their small hands made them better at handling small tools and machinery. Children agreed to work for cheap wages, and it increases the profit of the businesses. Immigrant children would have to work because of their poor conditions so everyone in the family would have to work. Children started developing health issues. They were underweight, stunted growth, scoliosis, higher accident rates, and respiratory diseases. According to NPR, “About half worked on family farms. The rest did everything else, working in factories, trained as apprentices, and served as messengers”. Also working non stop for long hours made children prone to physical and mental disorders. Working had affected children's health, education, and their childhood. Children didn’t have a childhood, they basically skipped their childhood and went right to work instead. According to The History Channel, “Working children were typically unable to attend school, creating a cycle of poverty that was difficult to break.”. Child labor took their childhood from them. Childhood is supposed to be the best