The Progressive Era Essay

Working today is not meant for any kids, but was a big problem during the Progressive Era which was around the 19th century. People under 13 are considered children and there had been thousands of children under this age who had been forced to work for many different reasons. There were horrible conditions, and poor pay. The children couldn’t do anything about it because not only were they forced to work, but their families needed the money to support and feed them. Children earned less pay than adults and their working conditions were so bad that most of them became very sick and their bodies were ruined because of the work. Child labor was such a big problem during the Progressive Era because the working conditions were horrible, making

Their parents were not stopping them from doing so because they needed the money desperately. Some of the jobs that children worked at weren’t meant for them and they were getting hurt. As it said in the book, Kids At Work, there was a 12 year old boy found working a huge machine and as a result he fell into it and tore off two of his fingers. He was still forced to work with these dangerous and frightening conditions. At one factory, young girl laborers worked at picking or cleaning nuts and separating meats by their fingers. They did these tasks for many hours each day. They would only earn 6 cents for a pound of picked nuts. A number of girls worked together and cleaned over 15 pounds of nuts in an hour but only ended up getting 15 cents each. The children were given no chairs, they were forced to work in a hot and dirty environment, and once again, they got bad pay. If someone were to make that little money today, it would translate to only about 4 dollars. If they worked for around a 12 hour day, then they would make about $48 which is cruel for that amount of time. The working conditions in general were unruly for the children who had to undergo them. No matter what the age, quality, job, or amount they did, their pay was less than adults who worked the same jobs as them. Children were forced to work in humid areas which led to sickness and unhealthy conditions. Children were forced to work in horrible conditions for very little money. Freedman page 2, Gourley page