The Spread Of Child Labor During The Second Industrial Revolution

On September 19, 1874, at a Granite Mill in Fall River Massachusetts, about twenty young women, some girls as young as five, died in a fire that started on one of the machines (Shuman 4). The public was horrified about the deaths, but no one asked why there were so many children in the factory (4). The problem of child labor came to the attention of the public during the second Industrial Revolution (3). Throughout the 1900s the awareness of the problem grew, and laws were passed to curtail dangerous, abusive jobs for children (5). As their economies grew, the United States and the Western world were able to almost completely eradicate child labor (Lopez-Calva 4). However, economically disadvantaged countries, have not been as successful (Pierik

Since the beginning of time children have worked on the family farms and in family businesses to help their families (Browne et al.1). Many cultures see work as part of a child’s training and education, and in some families everyone has to help to support the family (Kruse and Mahoney 1). Work can indeed be beneficial to children and help children to develop social skills or skills in a particular trade or occupation (Browne et al.1). The primary difference between work for children and labor is that labor is not usually at the child’s home and is most often performed in less than favorable, and perhaps even hazardous, environments (Pierik and Houwerzijl 7). Child labor forces children to work for very little compensation and becomes almost like a form of slavery (13). The child has no time for an education which could eventually lift the child out of his dire circumstances (Bullard 4). Child labor harms a child’s present and

In addition to limiting the educational opportunities of children, child labor creates a cycle of poverty from which the child can not escape even in adulthood (Bullard 4). Employers can easily manipulate the workforce by hiring children as a cheap alternative to adult labor (4). A large supply of cheap labor keeps wages and working conditions poor for adults, increasing the need for children to work (Lopez-Calva 2). This phenomenon of cheap labor also diminishes the need of industries to modernize, which in turn hurts the development of industry in the country (2). The only way to change the cycle of poverty is through industrialization and education together (Pierik and Houwerzijl 17). The history of the Western world has shown that only when economic conditions improve will child labor end and education for children become a priority