Effects Of Child Labour Laws On The Treatment And...

Effects of Child Labour Laws on the Treatment and Participation of Children in the Workforce During the British Industrial Revolution Caitlin Ledingham Student Number: 10005231 ECON 231 Prof. F. Lewis The focus of this paper is a cross-examination of popular literature discussing the effects of Child Labour laws on the treatment and participation of children in the workforce during the British Industrial Revolution. Clark Nardinelli, Carolyn Tuttle, and Jane Humphries are the three central critics whose work will be focused on through the paper’s progression, but other works by Peter Kirby, Sara Pollard, among other critics have also been considered in creating a rounded representation of the effects of the laws. In†¦show more content†¦This paper will begin with an overview of the incorporation of child labour in Britain, the conditions in which the children worked, and a summary of the elements of the Acts of 1833 and 1844 - the two laws that are regarded as having made the greatest impact on participation and treatment of the children. Next, the varying stances of the aforementioned central critics on the effects of the laws within the textile industry will be r eviewed, followed by a discussion of their effects on the education system; and to conclude the evaluation of the textile industry, a cross-evaluation of the various critical opinions will then be presented. Finally, the paper changes focus from the textile industry to the effects of the child labour laws on the non-textile industries. During the Industrial Revolution, Britain’s working landscape made a dramatic shift from agricultural to factory-based mass production of forged resources such as textiles, iron, and glass. With this change of focus came the necessity for a greater amount of labour. Employers soon discovered that they could employ a child in the place of an adult since all workers lacked experience due to the newness of the technology; the machines were powered by forces other than a man’s strength, and they could pay