Child Labor In America

At the close of the 19th century, more than 2 million American children under age 16—some as young as 4 or 5—were employed on farms, in mills, canneries, factories, mines and offices, or selling newspapers and fruits and vegetables on the streets. The crusaders of the Progressive Era believed child labor was an evil that maimed the children, exploited the poor and suppressed adult wages. The child should be in school till age 16, they demanded, in order to become a good citizen. The battle for and against child labor was fought in the press as well as state and federal legislatures. Several federal efforts to ban child labor were struck down by the Supreme Court and an attempt to amend the Constitution to ban child labor failed to gain enough support. It took the Great Depression and New Deal legislation to pass the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (and receive the support of the Supreme Court). This history of American child labor details the extent to which children worked in various industries, the debate over health and social effects, and the long battle with agricultural and industrial interests to curtail the practice.

Despite its decline throughout the advanced industrial nations, child labor remains one of the major social, political, and economic concerns of modern history, as witnessed by the many high-profile stories on child labor and sweatshops in the media today. This work considers the issue in three parts. The first section discusses child labor as a social and economic problem in America from an historical and theoretical perspective. The second part presents child labor as National Child Labor Committee investigators found it in major American industries and occupations, including coal mines, cotton textile mills, and sweatshops in the early 1900s. Finally, the concluding section integrates these findings and attempts to apply them to child labor problems in America and the rest of the world today.

Child labor law strikes most Americans as a fixture of the country’s legal landscape, involving issues settled in the distant past. But these laws, however self-evidently sensible they might seem, were the product of deeply divisive legal debates stretching over the past century—and even now are subject to constitutional challenges. Child Labor in America tells the story of that historic legal struggle. The book offers the first full account of child labor law in America—from the earliest state regulations to the most recent important Supreme Court decisions and the latest contemporary attacks on existing laws. Children had worked in America from the time the first settlers arrived on its shores, but public attitudes about working children underwent dramatic changes along with the nation’s economy and culture. A close look at the origins of oppressive child labor clarifies these changing attitudes, providing context for the hard-won legal reforms that followed. Author John A. Fliter describes early attempts to regulate working children, beginning with haphazard and flawed state-level efforts in the 1840s and continuing in limited and ineffective ways as a consensus about the evils of child labor started to build. In the Progressive Era, the issue finally became a matter of national concern, resulting in several laws, four major Supreme Court decisions, an unsuccessful Child Labor Amendment, and the landmark Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Fliter offers a detailed overview of these events, introducing key figures, interest groups, and government officials on both sides of the debates and incorporating the latest legal and political science research on child labor reform. Unprecedented in its scope and depth, his work provides critical insight into the role child labor has played in the nation’s social, political, and legal development.

The history of child labour in America is long and, in some cases, unsavoury. It dates back to the founding of the United States. Traditionally, most children, except for the privileged few, had always worked -- either for their parents or for an outside employer. Through the years, however, child labour practices have changed. So have the benefits and risks associated with employment of children. In some respects, altered workplace technology has served to make work easier and less hazardous. At the same time, some processes and equipment have rendered the workplace more dangerous, especially for children and youth. This book examines the current state of enforcement of America's federal child labour laws by the Department of Labour. This historical issue of child labour in America is also briefly reviewed. In addition, recommendations are made about reforms to strengthen protections for working children from hazardous working conditions. This book consists of public documents which have been located, gathered, combined, reformatted, and enhanced with a subject index, selectively edited and bound to provide easy access.

The history of child labour in America is long and, in some cases, unsavoury. It dates back to the founding of the United States. Traditionally, most children, except for the privileged few, had always worked -- either for their parents or for an outside employer. Through the years, child labour practices have changed -- and so have the benefits and risks associated with employment of children. In some respects, altered workplace technology has served to make work easier and less hazardous. At the same time, some processes and equipment have rendered the workplace more dangerous -- especially for the very young. Child labour first became a federal legislative issue at least as far back as 1906 with the introduction of the Beveridge proposal for regulation of the types of work in which children might be engaged. Although the 1906 legislation was not adopted, it led to extended study of the conditions under which children were employed or allowed to work and to a series of legislative proposals -- some approved, others defeated or overturned by the courts -- culminating in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938. The latter statute, amended periodically, remains the primary federal law dealing with the employment of children. Although providing a framework for regulation of child labour (and, in some cases, forbidding it entirely), the FLSA is not comprehensive, nor does it deal with all employment of children in precisely the same way. Generally speaking, work by young persons (under 18 years of age) in mines and factories is not allowed. What other types of work may be suitable (or especially hazardous) for persons under 18 years of age has been left to the discretion of the Secretary of Labour. Some types of work -- for example, some newspaper sales and delivery, theatrical (and related) employment -- fall beyond the scope of FLSA child labour requirements. Finally, a distinction has been made between employment in non-agricultural fields and in agriculture -- and, in the latter case, between work for a parent or guardian in an agricultural setting and commercial employment. This book sketches the early history of child labour regulation and reviews certain recent federal initiatives in that area and discusses child labour legislation.

A documentary account of child labor in America during the early 1900s and the role Lewis Hine played in the crusade against it.

In Massachusetts, a 12-year-old girl delivering newspapers is killed when a car strikes her bicycle. In Los Angeles, a 14-year-old boy repeatedly falls asleep in class, exhausted from his evening job. Although children and adolescents may benefit from working, there may also be negative social effects and sometimes danger in their jobs. Protecting Youth at Work looks at what is known about work done by children and adolescents and the effects of that work on their physical and emotional health and social functioning. The committee recommends specific initiatives for legislators, regulators, researchers, and employers. This book provides historical perspective on working children and adolescents in America and explores the framework of child labor laws that govern that work. The committee presents a wide range of data and analysis on the scope of youth employment, factors that put children and adolescents at risk in the workplace, and the positive and negative effects of employment, including data on educational attainment and lifestyle choices. Protecting Youth at Work also includes discussions of special issues for minority and disadvantaged youth, young workers in agriculture, and children who work in family-owned businesses.

"The World of Child Labor" details both the current and historical state of child labor in each region of the world, focusing on its causes, consequences, and cures. Child labor remains a problem of immense social and economic proportions throughout the developing world, and there is a global movement underway to do away with it. Volume editor Hugh D. Hindman has assembled an international team of leading child labor scholars, researchers, policy-makers, and activists to provide a comprehensive reference with over 220 essays. This volume first provides a current global snapshot with overview essays on the dimensions of the problem and those institutions and organizations combating child labor. Thereafter the organization of the work is regional, covering developed, developing, and less developed regions of the world.The reference goes around the globe to document the contemporary and historical state of child labor within each major region (Africa, Latin and South America, North America, Europe, Middle East, Asia, and Oceania) including country-level accounts for nearly half of the world's nations. Country-level essays for more developed nations include historical material in addition to current issues in child labor. All country-level essays address specific facets of child labor problems, such as industries and occupations in which children commonly work, the national child welfare policy, occupational safety regulations, educational system, and laws, and often highlight significant initiatives against child labor.Current statistical data accompany most country-level essays that include ratifications to UN and ILO conventions, the Human Development Index, human capital indicators, economic indicators, and national child labor surveys conducted by the Statistical Information and Monitoring Program on Child Labor. "The World of Child Labor" is designed to be a self-contained, comprehensive reference for high school, college, and professional researchers. Maps, photos, figures, tables, references, and index are included.