INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: Essay #18

Children exploitation

The industrial Revolution in England contributed to improve people´s living conditions. That meant an expansion in population, for the first time the birth rate in London was higher that the death rate, so children became a huge part of society.  Poor children had always worked in England but during the industrialization their work became highly valuable to factory owners since they realized that it was more advantageous to employ children rather than adults.

    Most factories’ owners were interested in employing children because they were tractable, cheap and easy to discipline. Children were very efficient when carrying out simple repetitive operations. Unlike adults, they did not show antipathy to factory labour. Due to these advantages, factories and mines absorbed children who were much more exploited than ever before. Children as young as six years old during the industrial revolution worked hard hours for little or no pay. In extreme cases, they sometimes worked up to 19 hours a day, with a one-hour total break. They worked also in horrible conditions. Children normally used large, heavy, and dangerous equipment so many accidents occurred in which they were injured or killed. Besides, they were paid only a fraction of what an adult would earn, and sometimes factory owners would get away with paying them nothing.

   The treatment of children in factories was often cruel and unusual, their safety was generally neglected. The youngest children, who were not old enough to work the machines, were commonly sent to be assistants to textile workers. The adults tended to beat them, abuse them verbally, and take no consideration for their safety. One common punishment for being late or not working efficiently would be to be "weighted." An overseer would tie a heavy weight to worker's neck, and have them walk up and down the factory aisles so the other children could see them and "take example." This could last up to an hour.

  Children´s parents knew how terrible the working conditions at the factory were but they were almost forced to accept them because they needed the income. However, many years later there appeared some important figures that fought for the regulation, improvement, and abolishment of child labor. The first step to improve conditions was in 1833 when the Parliament passed the Factory Act. This act limited the amount of hours children of certain ages could work. The children were also supposed to attend school for no less than two hours during the day. The most important part of this act was that the government would appoint officials to make sure that the act was carried out properly in every factory.

  To conclude, in the time of the Industrial Revolution, the families who moved to the crowded cities had a terrible economic situation. When children lived in rural areas, they used to work long hours with hard work for their families farms, but in the cities, they worked longer hours with harder work for large companies. The treatment was more severe; there were more sickness and injury.