Child Labor Laws

British Child Labor Laws

Early laws relating to children were harsh and unforgiving. In 1723, parishes founded “unions” or work-houses empowered to manacle children to prevent their escape. In 1740, legislation was passed dealing with child theft, allowing a child to be hanged by the neck until dead for the stealing of a handkerchief. Yet, by 1761, a campaign was started to protect child chimney sweeps, and legislation came about in 1788.

Between 1780 and 1840, there was a dramatic increase in the intensity of exploitation. The plight of working children was the topic of writers, most famously poet William Blake in his books Songs of Innocence (1789) and Songs of Experience (1794). In particular, “The Chimney Sweeper” describes in heartbreaking phrases the lives of small children doomed to enter the dangerous world of chimney-cleaning.

British social reformers worked to enact a series of legislation to regulate child labor. Among these were the 1842 Mines Act, which prohibited women and young children from working in the mines. In 1844, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children was founded, and members pushed for a series of acts related to child labor. The 1844 Factory Act reduced the number of hours children ages 8 through 13 were allowed to work. This act was amended in 1850, and while it adjusted the daily hours that children worked, it also increased the weekly hours from 58 to 60. The year 1864 saw the Chimney Sweeper's Act, effected in part by Charles Kingsley's poignant tale The Water Babies (1863). In 1867, the Factory Extension Act was extended to factories and workplaces not included in the original laws.

In 1870, the Education Act required elementary schooling for children but still allowed them to work. The 1891 Factory Act raised the minimum age of child workers from 10 to 11.

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