{"id":2839,"date":"2023-08-15T15:16:36","date_gmt":"2023-08-15T14:16:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/?p=2839"},"modified":"2024-09-03T11:51:12","modified_gmt":"2024-09-03T10:51:12","slug":"history-banning-child-labor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/history-banning-child-labor\/","title":{"rendered":"The long road to ban child labor\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<header class=\"entry-header bg-adp-tan block--article-header alignfull block--article-header\" >\n\n  \n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full entry--image\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1389\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Little-spinner-in-Globe-Cotton-Mill-Augusta-Ga.-Overseer-said-she-was-regularly-employed.-Location-Augusta-Georgia.jpeg\" alt=\"A little spinner in the Globe Cotton Mill in Augusta, Georgia, in 1909. Lewis Hine, Library of Congress Prints &amp; Photographs Division\" class=\"wp-image-2840\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Little-spinner-in-Globe-Cotton-Mill-Augusta-Ga.-Overseer-said-she-was-regularly-employed.-Location-Augusta-Georgia.jpeg 1920w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Little-spinner-in-Globe-Cotton-Mill-Augusta-Ga.-Overseer-said-she-was-regularly-employed.-Location-Augusta-Georgia-300x217.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Little-spinner-in-Globe-Cotton-Mill-Augusta-Ga.-Overseer-said-she-was-regularly-employed.-Location-Augusta-Georgia-1024x741.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Little-spinner-in-Globe-Cotton-Mill-Augusta-Ga.-Overseer-said-she-was-regularly-employed.-Location-Augusta-Georgia-768x556.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Little-spinner-in-Globe-Cotton-Mill-Augusta-Ga.-Overseer-said-she-was-regularly-employed.-Location-Augusta-Georgia-1536x1111.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Little-spinner-in-Globe-Cotton-Mill-Augusta-Ga.-Overseer-said-she-was-regularly-employed.-Location-Augusta-Georgia-1600x1158.jpeg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A little spinner in the Globe Cotton Mill in Augusta, Georgia, in 1909. Lewis Hine, Library of Congress Prints &amp; Photographs Division\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group entry--title-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"entry--social-share\">\n  <ul>\n    <li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/history-banning-child-labor\/&#038;t=The long road to ban child labor\u00a0\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/themes\/rethink-quarterly\/img\/facebook.svg\" alt=\"Facebook logo - click to share this article on Facebook\"><\/a><\/li>\n    <li><a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=The long road to ban child labor\u00a0&#038;url=https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/history-banning-child-labor\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/themes\/rethink-quarterly\/img\/twitter.svg\" alt=\"Twitter logo - click to share this article on Twitter\"><\/a><\/li>\n    <li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/sharing\/share-offsite\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Frethinkq.adp.com%2Fhistory-banning-child-labor%2F\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/themes\/rethink-quarterly\/img\/linkedin.svg\" alt=\"LinkedIn logo - click to share this article on Facebook\"><\/a><\/li>\n  <\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n            <a class=\"entry--tag tag-style\" href=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/looking-back\/\">Looking Back<\/a>\n\n        \n  <h1 class=\"entry-title\">The long road to ban child labor\u00a0<\/h1>\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-summary-style\">Industrialization led to an increased focus on banning child labor, but the efforts continue in the modern day.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n  <div class=\"entry--meta content-width\">\n           <p class=\"authors\">By\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/author\/lou-martin\/\">Dr. Lou Martin<\/a>\n\n             \n         \n     <\/p>\n    \n  \n  <p>15 August 2023  <span class=\"desktop-only\">\u2014<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/issue-9-back-to-school\/\">Issue 9: Back to School<\/a> \n  <\/div><!-- .entry-meta -->\n\n<\/header><!-- .entry-header -->\n\t<div class=\"entry-content content-width\">\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cChildren have always worked, but it is only since the reign of the machine that their work has been synonymous with slavery,\u201d John Spargo wrote in his 1906 book, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/books\/edition\/The_Bitter_Cry_of_the_Children\/iQ0AAAAAYAAJ?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Bitter Cry of Children<\/a>.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The British political writer came to the United States shortly after the turn of the century, and there he witnessed some of the worst effects of industrialization. He was well aware of the long history of child labor in England but was moved to write an expos\u00e9 by what he learned in America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On a trip to Pittston, Pennsylvania, he met some \u201cbreaker boys\u201d who spent their days sitting by a conveyor belt, watching chunks of coal slide pass. Their job was to spot chunks of slate among the coal and pick them out. If they missed one, it was common for the foreman to throw the slate at the boy who missed it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This was one of the worst forms of child labor, with children breathing in coal dust and sometimes getting caught up in the conveyor belt while reaching for a piece of slate, which could result in mashed fingers or worse.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Spargo asked one of the boys in Pittston how old he was. \u201cHe certainly did not look more than 10 years old,\u201d Spargo wrote, \u201cbut he answered boldly, \u2018I\u2019m 13, sir.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Such was the state of child labor in the U.S. in the early 1900s, and Spargo was one of many trying to get better laws enacted to end the worst abuses.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Children in the mills and mines<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cChild labor\u201d as an area of concern emerged as Europe industrialized in the 19th century. In farming societies, children had always worked beside their parents in the fields and in the home. Craftspeople in medieval cities employed their children as helpers, often fetching supplies or running errands. And some early factories like the potteries of Staffordshire employed whole families, with fathers acting as crew chiefs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The rise of textile mills in England brought a new kind of child labor. Up to this time, contracts with child apprentices were the norm, and there were no laws to prohibit child labor. By the 1830s, companies were employing children directly, no longer under the supervision of a parent. In factories, child workers were no longer just helpers \u2014 they were a key component in the production process. That meant production depended on them doing their jobs continuously and quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This new form of child labor in factories spread with industrialization because children were paid low wages, and factories were often desperate to find workers. Some employers also claimed children had an advantage because of their small, nimble hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many reformers were aware that children were vulnerable in factory settings under the supervision of strangers, but perhaps none more so than Charles Dickens. He knew all too well the potential for harm. At age 12, when his father was sent to debtors\u2019 prison,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bl.uk\/romantics-and-victorians\/articles\/child-labour\"> <\/a>he was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bl.uk\/romantics-and-victorians\/articles\/child-labour\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sent to work<\/a> at Warren\u2019s Blacking factory, pasting labels on shoe polish pots. Exploited and abused children became a hallmark of Dickens\u2019s stories of industrial England, helping to raise awareness about the problems facing child workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the most serious concerns was safety. Not only were children facing the same risks in mines and mills as adults, but sometimes they were put in even greater danger because of their small size. In English novelist Frances Trollope\u2019s 1840 book, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/books\/edition\/The_Life_and_Adventures_of_Michael_Armst\/5VzdWS6eB6wC?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cThe Life and Adventures of Michael Armstrong, Factory Boy<\/a>,\u201d she described the work of the scavenger, a young girl who clears debris away from under the whirring, hissing power loom while it was running. As she creeps under the machine, the girl\u2019s trembling body and head must be perfectly flat on the floor to avoid being sucked up into the loom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>England\u2019s<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalarchives.gov.uk\/education\/resources\/1833-factory-act\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> 1833 Factory Act<\/a> set the minimum working age at 9 and required that all children have two hours of school each day. Previous laws had attempted to impose many of the same restrictions, but the 1833 act was the first to create an inspection system. Yet, even these tepid measures were only poorly enforced. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.parliament.uk\/about\/living-heritage\/transformingsociety\/livinglearning\/19thcentury\/overview\/laterfactoryleg\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Subsequent laws<\/a> also restricted hours for women as well as children, to 10 hours a day in 1847.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Education and compulsory attendance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The 19th century brought expansions of factories but also schoolhouses, with the emergence of universal public education. In the northern U.S., states passed a series of compulsory school attendance laws, driven by the idea that education was important to citizenship in a republic. By the 1870s, Germany and France had passed similar laws, and in 1870, the British Parliament passed the Elementary Education Act, requiring children between 5 and 10 to attend school. In the 1920s, the newly formed Soviet Union passed similar laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Increasingly, reformers were just as concerned about children being deprived of an education as they were about children sustaining injuries in a factory. When American labor activist George McNeill became head of the Bureau of the Statistics of Labor in Massachusetts, one of his first reports, 1875\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/books\/edition\/Factory_Children\/06cxdOL_a1gC?hl=en&amp;gbpv=1&amp;dq=child+labor&amp;printsec=frontcover\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Schooling and Hours of Labor of Children<\/a>, opened with the declaration that 60,000 children were  \u201cgrowing up in ignorance,\u201d in violation of state law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the late 19th century, working-class men in parts of Europe and North America \u2014&nbsp;where factories became the dominant form of manufacturing \u2014&nbsp;began to support further restrictions on women\u2019s and children\u2019s working hours. It was part of their campaign for a \u201cfamily wage,\u201d or pay that was high enough for a man to support a homemaker wife and children who stayed in school. While different countries had<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/books\/edition\/Gender_and_Class_in_Modern_Europe\/U6JhDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&amp;gbpv=1&amp;dq=gender+in+modern+european+history&amp;printsec=frontcover\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> varied visions of women\u2019s employment<\/a>, there was an almost universal desire to keep children out of factories and mines until they reached their mid-teens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the same time, middle-class families were strategically maximizing their children\u2019s \u2014 especially their sons\u2019 \u2014 education. That meant having fewer children.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/books\/edition\/Cradle_of_the_Middle_Class\/W3qE-y8ZqwYC?hl=en&amp;gbpv=1&amp;dq=mary+ryan+cradle+of+the+middle+class&amp;printsec=frontcover\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> One study of middle-class families in New York<\/a> in the mid-1800s revealed that the average birth rate declined from about 5.8 children per family to 3.6 in just one generation. On the farm, having too few children limited the family\u2019s ability to plow fields and harvest crops, but for middle-class families in town, fewer children meant more resources for the education of each child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A progressive focus on child labor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Progressive Movement emerged in the U.S. as problems of industrialization and urbanization became undeniable. Plus, more and more women were earning college degrees but being shut out by industry. As a result, they turned to careers in reform organizations, settlement houses and government agencies. Drawing on their traditional roles as mothers and housewives, they carved out areas of expertise in sanitation, education and child rearing. This gave them greater authority when trying to eliminate child labor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The National Child Labor Committee formed in 1904 and had a board of directors that included famous reformers Florence Kelley and Jane Addams. The committee\u2019s<a href=\"https:\/\/timesmachine.nytimes.com\/timesmachine\/1904\/11\/27\/101350251.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> 1904 report<\/a> found that, despite decades of efforts to curb child labor, some 2 million children under the age of 15 \u2014&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.census.gov\/data\/tables\/time-series\/demo\/popest\/pre-1980-national.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">more than 7%<\/a> \u2014&nbsp;still toiled away in mines and mills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Among the committee\u2019s most powerful weapons in the fight against child labor were the photographs of Lewis Hine. Hine had studied sociology at Columbia University in New York City before being hired by the committee to expose the child labor that was largely hidden from the public. He traveled to the coal mines of Pennsylvania and West Virginia and the textile mills of the U.S. South to take portraits of children at work. Hine\u2019s photos often captured the exhaustion of the children and juxtaposed their small bodies standing in front of large machinery or blackened with coal dust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-1 slider-adaptive-height has-background wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\" style=\"background-color:#00000000\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"751\" data-id=\"2843\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Labor-Day-Parade-children-in-Child-Labor-demonstration-New-York.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2843\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Labor-Day-Parade-children-in-Child-Labor-demonstration-New-York.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Labor-Day-Parade-children-in-Child-Labor-demonstration-New-York-300x220.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Labor-Day-Parade-children-in-Child-Labor-demonstration-New-York-768x563.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Children participate in a Labor Day Parade in New York. Image courtesy of Bain News Service, Library of Congress Prints &amp; Photographs Division\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"717\" data-id=\"2844\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Johns-Lewis.-Springstein-Mill.-.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2844\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Johns-Lewis.-Springstein-Mill.-.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Johns-Lewis.-Springstein-Mill.--300x210.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Johns-Lewis.-Springstein-Mill.--768x538.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A typical cotton mill boy, 12 years old, working at the Springsteen Mill in Chester, South Carolina, in 1908. Lewis Hine, Library of Congress Prints &amp; Photographs Division<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"752\" data-id=\"2845\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Rosa-Sarosa.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2845\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Rosa-Sarosa.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Rosa-Sarosa-300x220.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Rosa-Sarosa-768x564.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rosa, 13, Sarah, 9, and Jo, 6, worked in the Albion Canning Factory on beans and tomatoes in Buffalo, New York, in 1910. When they worked all day, the three earned $1.50. They were paid 8 cents per hour for all time, including overtime. Lewis Hine, Library of Congress Prints &amp; Photographs Division\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"711\" data-id=\"2846\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Some-of-the-young-girls-who-roll-cigarettes.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2846\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Some-of-the-young-girls-who-roll-cigarettes.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Some-of-the-young-girls-who-roll-cigarettes-300x208.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Some-of-the-young-girls-who-roll-cigarettes-768x533.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Some of the young girls who rolled cigarettes in the Danville, Virginia, cigarette factory. Lewis Hine, Library of Congress Prints &amp; Photographs Division\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"783\" data-id=\"2847\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/KingPhilip.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2847\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/KingPhilip.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/KingPhilip-300x229.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/KingPhilip-768x587.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Thomas Burns, 14, working as a twister in the weave room arranging threads in Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1916. This job was usually done by an adult. Lewis Hine, Library of Congress Prints &amp; Photographs Division\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"713\" data-id=\"2842\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/A-spinner-in-the-Mollahan-Mills-Newberry-S.C.-Dec.-3_08.-Witness-Sara-R.-Hine.-Location-Newberry-South-Carolina.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2842\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/A-spinner-in-the-Mollahan-Mills-Newberry-S.C.-Dec.-3_08.-Witness-Sara-R.-Hine.-Location-Newberry-South-Carolina.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/A-spinner-in-the-Mollahan-Mills-Newberry-S.C.-Dec.-3_08.-Witness-Sara-R.-Hine.-Location-Newberry-South-Carolina-300x209.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/A-spinner-in-the-Mollahan-Mills-Newberry-S.C.-Dec.-3_08.-Witness-Sara-R.-Hine.-Location-Newberry-South-Carolina-768x535.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A spinner in the Mollahan Mills, Newberry, South Carolina, in 1908. Lewis Hine, Library of Congress Prints &amp; Photographs Division\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Legislation and loopholes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The National Child Labor Committee pushed for the creation of a government agency focused on children\u2019s welfare. In 1912, they succeeded, and Congress created the U.S. Children\u2019s Bureau. Historian Molly Ladd-Taylor has<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/books\/edition\/Gender_Class_Race_and_Reform_in_the_Prog\/VAQaEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&amp;gbpv=1&amp;dq=gender+class+and+reform+progressive+era&amp;printsec=frontcover\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> examined the work of the Bureau<\/a> and its first chief, Julia Lathrop. Lathrop was a graduate of Vassar College and a longtime Progressive activist, and she focused the agency\u2019s efforts on improving infant health and better regulating child labor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ladd-Taylor concludes that Lathrop\u2019s work to improve infant health was met with widespread enthusiasm while efforts to regulate child labor were often opposed by employers and struggling working-class families. The Bureau\u2019s lobbying efforts resulted in the 1916 Keating-Owen Act, which set the minimum working age at 14 but had so many loopholes that it only applied to fewer than 10% of child workers. Worse, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the law two years later for attempting to supersede states\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When the Great Depression came in 1929, Americans were ready to take unprecedented steps to boost the economy. Many were dismayed that male breadwinners could not find jobs, which undoubtedly led to support for work restrictions on non-breadwinners. Furthermore, the Supreme Court had by then ruled that the federal government had the authority to regulate interstate commerce. The 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act prohibited children under 18 from working dangerous jobs and children under 16 from working during school hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The persistence of child labor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In the following decades in industrialized countries, higher wages and higher standards of living allowed most parents to leave their children in school longer. Today, child labor is most prevalent in less developed nations.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1989, the United Nations adopted the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/en\/instruments-mechanisms\/instruments\/convention-rights-child\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> Convention on the Rights of the Child<\/a>, which includes the right to be protected from \u201ceconomic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child&#8217;s education.\u201d It also called on all nations to pass laws setting a minimum age for employment. Then in 1992, the International Labor Organization (ILO) launched a campaign to eliminate child labor. The International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC) began with extensive country surveys of the extent and nature of child labor around the world, and then began to work within the U.N. to have all nations commit to banning the \u201cworst forms\u201d of child labor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/books\/edition\/The_World_of_Child_Labor\/_MrfBQAAQBAJ?hl=en&amp;gbpv=1&amp;dq=hindman+child+labor+world&amp;printsec=frontcover\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> comprehensive 2009 examination<\/a> of child labor worldwide found that these efforts were somewhat successful. While there had been some 245 million children working in 2000, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ilo.org\/ipec\/ChildlabourstatisticsSIMPOC\/WCMS_817699\/lang--en\/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ILO<\/a> estimated that about 160 million children were working in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet, child labor persists. Some 70% of all child laborers worldwide work in agriculture, in both developed and less developed nations. The other 30% can be found working in factories, cleaning homes and engaged in informal street trade, among other things. In developed nations, children who are poor, racial minorities or unaccompanied migrants are more likely to have to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/02\/25\/us\/unaccompanied-migrant-child-workers-exploitation.html?unlocked_article_code=r2wj3wmQzUAxONvKJ4y6Mrw8vTp2Hs2jGMZobrifOcMqfAMBn6Ag7Ac5EmZpKpf0FLrxd-IzjzD7p2D3COk2H42qBAqZ-FcL_5xAKSDNtlU58OxwjNR3Fl7fpsNKRoRiJ4ZOerHgHHFcKdtVy2XHUO9EafyTh2oATQMMI41NJrgelMiBp1Dl0PnwnHGJHwQxudydugUCPTia0Bnj5fOY0AjCytA50-D2iexnBNh23io_FlP-uVKgIhAD-BD9DGniXHhgrkoCwXLjwyr_6BtTSNB9xEcE1zsjt-R_MmekeB4G-T0eungVsoizNKxnGiM-b7YHt-TWW_Guju4sxBkzFHzB3pwf0aK-BOExAmhTcbif0AdwIQ&amp;smid=url-share\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">New York Times investigation<\/a> revealed that child labor is still widespread in the United States. The reporters said that finding child workers in factories producing consumer products was as simple as waiting in the parking lot during a shift change and asking young people how old they were. Many are recent immigrants who had arrived in the U.S. without guardians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just as with the expos\u00e9s a century ago, there have been renewed calls for reform. And once again, the push to close enforcement loopholes also begs us to examine root causes and search for more holistic solutions to child labor.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"block--author\">      <div class=\"block-author__inner\">\n        <div class=\"author--image\">\n                      <a href=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/author\/lou-martin\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/profile_Martin-Lou-298x305.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n                  <\/div>\n        <div class=\"author--info\">\n                      <a href=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/author\/lou-martin\/\" class=\"author--name\">Dr. Lou Martin<\/a>\n\n          \n          <p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dr. Lou Martin is an associate professor of history at Chatham University, a cofounder of the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum, and a member of the advisory council of the Ohio River Valley Institute<\/span><\/p>\n          <div class=\"block--author-social\"><ul class=\"author--socials\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chatham.edu\/academics\/undergraduate\/history\/faculty\/lou-martin.html\" title=\"Author Website\" target=\"_blank\"><i class=\"fas fa-globe\"><\/i><\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n       <\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block--recommended-content alignwide is-style-bg-adp-tan\"><div class=\"block-recommended-content__inner\">\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Read more<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"block--article-pushpoint pushpoint__small\">      <div class=\"block-article-pushpoint__inner\">\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/how-cash-machines-changed-payday\/\">\n        <div class=\"pushpoint--image\">\n          <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/318_marc_nli_003999144-1084x576.jpeg\" alt=\"\" \/>\n        <\/div>\n        <div class=\"pushpoint--info\">\n                    <span class=\"pushpoint--title\">How the rise of cash machines changed payday<\/span>\n          <p>After payroll went digital, people still needed cash, mobbing bank branches on paydays. In the 1970s, banks started making big investments in a new innovation: the Automated Teller Machine.<\/p>        <\/div>\n      <\/a><\/div> <\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block--article-pushpoint pushpoint__small\">      <div class=\"block-article-pushpoint__inner\">\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/history-of-the-weekend\/\">\n        <div class=\"pushpoint--image\">\n          <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/m20080305051_01-1084x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>\n        <\/div>\n        <div class=\"pushpoint--info\">\n                    <span class=\"pushpoint--title\">The history of the weekend<\/span>\n          <p>Thank goodness it\u2019s Friday? Although we take it for granted, the working week as we know it faced strong resistance.<\/p>        <\/div>\n      <\/a><\/div> <\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block--article-pushpoint pushpoint__small\">      <div class=\"block-article-pushpoint__inner\">\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/history-time-tracking-clocks\/\">\n        <div class=\"pushpoint--image\">\n          <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/service-pnp-fsa-8d27000-8d27900-8d27970v-1011x576.jpeg\" alt=\"\" \/>\n        <\/div>\n        <div class=\"pushpoint--info\">\n                    <span class=\"pushpoint--title\">How time-tracking clocks shaped the working world<\/span>\n          <p>Despite being thoroughly embedded in today\u2019s professional life, \u201cclocking in\u201d is a relatively modern invention.\n<\/p>        <\/div>\n      <\/a><\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-group alignfull section--sign-up has-background\" style=\"background-color:#7967ae\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center is-style-default has-white-color has-text-color has-large-font-size\"><a href=\"\/sign-up\/\">Sign up<\/a> to keep up to date with ReThink Q.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Industrialization led to an increased focus on banning child labor, but the efforts continue in the modern day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2840,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[337,138,339,340,338],"coauthors":[118],"class_list":["post-2839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-looking-back","tag-child-labor","tag-history","tag-mandatory-education","tag-reform","tag-regulation","issue-issue-9-back-to-school"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.5 - 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