Child Exploitation During the 19th Century

As the industrial revolution began families moved closer to cities and factories and life became difficult for adults, a child's life would have also been very difficult. Children would be employed as workers in factories at a young age which would lead to adults acting unjustly towards them. They were forced to work in factories and mines and they were faced with many hazards at work and at home. In Britain during the 19th century children were exploited to a large extent.

Children were forced to start work in factories and mines at the age of four because they were smaller and could do the jobs that some adults could not. Children were forced to work so they could earn money for their families so they could eat, they would do the same amount of work as an adult would do. Their jobs were dangerous as they involved crawling under machines and crawling through small tunnels. As a result children did not have a childhood, or play games instead they were sent to work which also meant that the children had no family bonding time to get to know their family. Source six states in a quotation taken from a young textile worker "the youngest child is about seven ... I daresay there are 20 under nine years". Demonstrates that young children were sent to large factories to work. This evidence also supports that children were young and had no childhood. Children never had the time to bond with their families and source ten supports this claim, "the husband works the whole day through, perhaps the wife also and the elder children, all in different places; they meet night and morning only, all under perpetual temptation to drink; what family life is possible under such conditions?" this quotation demonstrates the reality of family life back in the industrial revolution. Children didn't get a choice whether they wanted to work in a factory or mine or even if they wanted to work at all which contributes to the exploitation of children during the industrial revolution.

Children faced many hazards every day such as conditions that they worked in and their unhygienic home life. These hazards made life very dangerous for a person of any age but it affected children greatly. Working conditions in mines and factories were horrific this included dangers that machines that children used were deadly and could seriously injure workers. They were not supplied with safety clothing therefore accidents were more likely to happen. The lack of safety equipment is evidence that employers did not care about the safety of their child employers which demonstrates exploitation as the safety of their chid employers which demonstrates exploitation as the employer wanted children to work without providing them a safe workplace. Source one indicates how horrid working conditions were in the factories, "the noise appalled him and the smell seemed unbearable." this shows how the conditions were not suitable for children.