The smallest child in the factories were scavengers……they go under the machine, while it is going……….it is very dangerous when they first come, but they become used to it." Charles Aberdeen, 1832.
american child labor
- Child labors first appeared in the industrialization period.
- Less expensive than adult workers & more easy to control, children were more ideal employers.
- Children were treated as if they were adults, but they were not paid as much as adults were.
- They were paid a fraction of an adults pay, or not paid at all. Orphans were affected the most because their bosses got away with not paying them by saying they provided shelter and food.
- Worked extreme hours. Children who worked in factories worked 10-14 hours a day.
- Some times Children work for 19 hours and only have a 1 hour break.
- Worked with large and heavy dangerous equipment that either got them injured or killed.
- Did the grunt work in large factories.
- Had no rights or no say in their work.
- Children the ages from 7 to 8 years old were deprived from education and began to work.