1. The Dreadful Effects of All Photographs by Lewis Hines
Lecture # 4
The Dreadful Effects of
Child Labor
Believed that if people could see for themselves the abuses and injustice of child labor, they would demand laws to end those evils.
All Photographs by Lewis Hines
Objective~ Understand how Child Labor lead to new reforms/laws

2. Hit all time high during I.R Denied education/normal childhood
Compared to slavery
children were forced to work in order to help their families keep food on the table.
working-class parents were often accused of greedily not caring about the well-being of their children.
Requiring them to go to work denied them educational opportunities and reduced their life-time earnings.

3. National Child Labor Committee
Factory Act of 1833
Limited # of hours children of certain ages could work
illegal to hire under 9yrs
9-13yrs can’t work more than 8 hrs
14-18yrs can’t work more than 12 hrs
must attend school for 2 hours a day.
laws were often ignored/did not apply to immigrants
Children 9 to 13 years old were only allowed to work 8 hours a day. 14 to 18 years old could not work more than 12 hours a day. Children under 9 were not allowed to work at all. Appointed officials to make sure the act was carried out

4. Background
Photographer, Lewis Hines documented and exposed numerous violations of child labor laws
As a result, many states passed stricter laws
thus they were often exploited and wound up living in slums working long hours for little pay. Attempts at child labor reform continued, aided by Hine's photographs.

5. Common for children as young as 6 to work 12-14 hours a day for little pay
Punishments for being late- “weighted”

6. The Faces of Lost Youth
children were forced to work in order to help their families keep food on the table.

7. Orphans were the major victims
Many factory owners would buy children from orphanages-property of the factory owner=no pay
Factory owners justified the absence of pay by saying that they gave the orphans food, shelter, and clothing, all of which were far below decent conditions. -signed contracts that virtually made them

8. Mining~ The most Dangerous Job
I.R. increased demands
coal and iron
Dangers
Collapsed Tunnels/Explosives
Dark
Flooding
Coal Dust Destroyed Lungs

9. Cruel and unusual treatment
safety virtually neglected
Accidents with machinery were wide spread
Children worked long hours in dangerous and unhealthy conditions
Causing mutations and physical deformities

10. Federal Wage and Hour Law-1941
work week: 40 hours
minimum wage: 40 cents per hour
Prohibited child labor under the age of 16
Existence of Child Labor today
250 million children aged 5 to 14 work in developing countries
120 million work full time in various jobs often under hazardous conditions and crude living conditions. India/Asia/Africa
  Informal Labor (vending, begging, portering, etc.)   Commercial Labor (factory work, farming, mining, etc.)   Informal and Commercial Labor   Not known to have child labor.

11. So Stop Whining