11.11 Girls at Work in the Industrial Age

The Industrial Revolution did not invent child labor, but it changed how people viewed it. A growing middle and upper class provided their kids with long childhoods filled with play, education, and preparation for a productive adulthood. The poorer classes sent their children to work in factories and fields where they worked long hours at dangerous jobs and learned very few skills. Girls in particular worked in textile mills, breathing in lint and climbing over whirling machinery. But girls also worked in fields to supply the factories.
Reformers argued for child labor laws almost as soon as the Industrial Revolution set in, but the new laws had very little effect until after World War One. Even today, child labor remains a problem, especially in Asia and Africa, but also even in the United States.
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The Industrial Revolution did not invent child labor, but it changed how people viewed it. A growing middle and upper class provided their kids with long childhoods filled with play, education, and preparation for a productive adulthood. The poorer classes sent their children to work in factories and fields where they worked long hours at dangerous jobs and learned very few skills. Girls in particular worked in textile mills, breathing in lint and climbing over whirling machinery. But girls also worked in fields to supply the factories.

Reformers argued for child labor laws almost as soon as the Industrial Revolution set in, but the new laws had very little effect until after World War One. Even today, child labor remains a problem, especially in Asia and Africa, but also even in the United States.

Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures.

Support the show on my Patreon page for bonus episodes, polls, and a general feeling of self-satisfaction. Or make a one-time donation on Buy Me a Coffee.

Join Into History (intohistory.com/herhalfofhistory/) for a community of ad-free history podcasts plus bonus content.

Visit Evergreen Podcasts to listen to more great shows.

Follow me on Twitter (X) as @her_half. Or on Facebook or Instagram as Her Half of History.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices