Child Labor in History v. Now
Child
Labor in History v. Now
I believe that child labor is one of the most horrifying movements in American history. To sit here and think that little children had to work adult hours and do adult tasks is sickening. They were paid very little money. Children mostly worked in factories, to the factory owners, the children were cheaper, easier to intimidate, and more manageable in the factory. The work environment for the children was dirty and unsanitary, and they also were tight in space. Because of their size, they could fit into smaller spaces versus the adults. It was hard for children to work those long hours because their bodies were too small and they can only take so much. The work environment was so dangerous that there would be injuries almost every day in the factories. For example, hair would get caught in the machines and get ripped out completely off their heads. Some other injuries are burns on their hands and a lot of broken limbs as well from machines falling on them or even falling from machines being so close together.
I believe that child labor is one of the most horrifying movements in American history. To sit here and think that little children had to work adult hours and do adult tasks is sickening. They were paid very little money. Children mostly worked in factories, to the factory owners, the children were cheaper, easier to intimidate, and more manageable in the factory. The work environment for the children was dirty and unsanitary, and they also were tight in space. Because of their size, they could fit into smaller spaces versus the adults. It was hard for children to work those long hours because their bodies were too small and they can only take so much. The work environment was so dangerous that there would be injuries almost every day in the factories. For example, hair would get caught in the machines and get ripped out completely off their heads. Some other injuries are burns on their hands and a lot of broken limbs as well from machines falling on them or even falling from machines being so close together.
The picture above was taken by a muckraker.
- Muckrakers-are journalist who exposes what life is about living in the lower class
Is child labor still happening today? Is child labor happening in other countries besides the U.S.?
Child Labor Today
Still to this day child labor exist!!! Yes, there were Union Tactics used such as strikes and boycotts, but this labor union is still standing.
You would never think that your go-to superstore, that has everything that you need, from clothes, electronics, and even food would even think about using children to manufacture goods. But reading this might make you think otherwise. Walmart has been accused of employing children and having them work more than 19 hours a day and only paying them up to $20 a month. Walmart is one of the largest employers in the U.S. They have over a million employers today.
Have you ever thought about how your iPhone, iPod, MacBook, and iPad were made?? One Chinese company employed 74 children under the age of 16. This led to 106 cases of underage labor last year. They also found cases of juveniles lifting heavy goods and people’s wages were being docked for punishment. This is really saddening to know that whoever helped manufacture my phone could’ve been younger than me and even older but still in my age group. I can’t imagine.
Do you shop at H&M? Do you think about where your cute ripped jeans came from? Who made them? How old were they? Well,…H&M was accused of contracting with factories that violated the child labor laws. If you are a regular shopper at H&M…you might want to tune in. In 2 factories there were children under the age of 14 working more than 12 hours a day making clothes. The location where the factories were at, could have 14-year-old employees. The amount of time that they worked was against the law.
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