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What were the short and long-term effects of child labor during the Industrial Revolution?
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During the Industrial Revolution, child labor allowed for faster mass production and kept wages low, benefiting industrialists. However, it also prevented children from attending school, widening the wealth gap and leading to long-term health issues due to unsafe working conditions. Over time, the negative impacts prompted reforms, including child labor and compulsory education laws, as well as a push for better working conditions, driven by Progressive efforts to ensure a better future for children.
One short-term benefit of child labor in the Industrial Revolution was that goods could be mass-produced even faster with this new labor pool. Industrialists justified not paying children as much by arguing that children were not supposed to be the breadwinners of the household, but they could contribute. Also, children's small hands could better manipulate some of the finer machine parts, and their smaller bodies could get into smaller mines. Industrialists who were willing to use child laborers also had a ready pool of labor should the adults try to organize for better wages, keeping wages low for everyone, which benefitted employers.
There were many drawbacks to child labor as well. Children often did not go to school or they were forced to quit at an early age in order to get jobs. This led to education only being available for upper-class children, thus creating a wealth gap in the...
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United States that would last until well after the period of child labor. Children were also more likely to get hurt on the job since they were placed in unsafe conditions. Without insurance, these children would grow into physically disabled adults who relied on either private charity or menial jobs. Child labor laws would soon become a priority for Progressive legislators who wanted better working conditions and for children to receive an education.
Child labor was used during the Industrial Revolution. There were various effects both in the short-term and in the long-term with the use of child labor.
There were several short-term effects of the use of child labor. One effect was the kids who were working in factories were unlikely to attend school. Some of these kids had to work because their parent or parents weren’t making enough money to make ends meet. In some cases, the child replaced the parent who had been injured on the job. Sometimes the extra money was used to bring a relative to the United States from their home country.
Another short-term effect was that the use of kids helped to keep wages low for all factory workers. Kids were paid very low wages, and since they were available to work, this helped to keep the pay low because the supply of workers had increased.
There were some long-term effects of child labor. Some of these kids ended up working for the company their entire lifetime until they retired. Some of them continued to work for the company that hired them as children. Unfortunately, some of these kids also developed health issues from working in factories with toxic materials and poorly ventilated buildings. The demanding nature of some of the work also impacted the health of these young workers throughout their lifetime.
Another long-term effect is that when these kids got married and had children, they insisted that their kids get a good education. They understood how important education was to have success later in life. They didn’t want their kids to have to work at as young of an age as they did. They wanted their kids to have a better life than they had.
A third long-term effect was the passage of child labor laws. The Progressives were outraged that companies were exploiting these kids. Under President Taft, a Children’s Bureau was established to investigate problems with child labor. Because of the efforts of the Progressives, child labor laws were passed to restrict kids from working at young ages. Additionally, compulsory education laws were passed requiring kids to go to school. These laws still exist today.
Child labor has been a problem throughout history. Some of the effects of child labor were short term while some effects were long term.