Children's work: The industrial Revolution

During the Industrial Revolution children were employed by masters to work in new factories. Very poor families had to send their children to workhouses, because they did not have any money to send them to school.

They were paid less than adults, almost anything. Indeed they had just a little food and very long working hours. Working conditions were terrible and very dangerous, children were easy to control and masters used them as much as they needed. Although children were fast-learning work forces and their tiny shape allowed them to work in small places. In addition their little hands were perfect for precision works, which adult could not do.

Children lived in workhouse, which were not nice places to a child to grow. They had no times or games to play at, they were not fed enough. They had to work many and many hours, that they seemed more like machines than like kids. Many of them died or were dangeroulsy injured.

It goes without saying that life expectancy of people was below twenty years. Indeed they had to work in thilthy air and they could not have medical supervision. The working children of the Industrial revolution had no rights at all, they were part of the master's posession together with machines and buildings.

In conclusion, child labour is maybe the darkest side of the Industrial Revolution.