Child Workers in the Industrial Revolution

Other Information
1. Child labour began in the earliest days of the industrial revolution.
  1. Children as young as 4 could work in factories in very dangerous conditions.
What type of jobs did the children do?
1. Working on machines in factories
  1. Selling newspapers on the street corners
    1. Breaking up coal in the coal mines
      1. Chimney Sweeps
Why was child labour a good thing in the industrial revolution?
1. Businesses hired children to work because they were cheap.
  1. Children always worked hard
    1. They could do some jobs that some adults couldn't do
Did child workers make any money?
1. Yes, but not very much, but in some cases, they did not get paid at all.
Long Hours and Dangerous Work
1. The children lost limbs and fingers working on high powered machinery with very little training.
  1. They developed lung diseases due to bad ventilation or blocked ventilation in the mines
    1. They worked around dangerous chemicals and became sick from the fumes
2. They often worked 10-12 hours a day.

Resource summary

	Created by Joe Dry over 9 years ago