View source for Children in the British 19th Century

Children in the British 19th Century

A child’s life was very different in the 19th century compared to the one today, when it comes to the tasks they had to do and fulfill.

Nowadays, children in Britain have or are supposed to have “a safe home, a free education and healthy food and places to play” (Website Children England), thus an environment they can fully develop in and feel secure. That is even legally declared in the Government as it is “obliged to make sure every child can grow up with these things, and be protected from neglect and harm” (Website Children England). 

Of course, also here children are facing different sorts of challenges, which are (not only but mostly) connected to anxiety and stress that result from scholarly examinations or trends and ideals from social media platforms to only list two out of many factors (cf. Website Children England).

Children in the 19th century had very different challenges to face and followed a different daily routine filled with long and hard-working hours in factories. [this only holds true for working-class children. Middle- and upper-class children did not have to work in factories]

With the Industrial Revolution, Britain went through many major social and economic changes. It is even said that “[the] Industrial Revolution transformed Great Britain from a nation of agricultural villages into a nation of factory towns” (Nardinelli 739). One very big part of the social development was the employment of children. They did not only have to work very hard, but also very long. Richard Oastler described the suffering of factory children as follows: “[…] Ye are doomed to labor from morning to night for one who cares not how soon your weak and tender frames are stretched to breaking!” (Nardinelli 739).

This short but precise description already presents several problematic fields children had to face during that time. On the one hand, the long working days that were filled with hard work in factories for several days during the week. On the other hand, the fact that adults did not do much against these working conditions of children and were putting even more pressure on them. 
M.T. Sadler in his work described these factories as “hellish institutions for the destruction of childhood” (Nardinelli 740) and yet during the first phase of the Industrial Revolution child labor was one crucial “social feature of English life” (Nardinelli 740).

In opposition to the very critical points regarding child labor stands the traditional view. Children who had to work and help their parents were as good as always from very poor families. Thus, it was considered very important and at some point, even necessary for children to work to support the family and bring a certain amount of income. Children not participating in any work due to attendance at school or another kind of activity was considered “a luxury good” (Humphries 407). Due to that, the abolition of child labor was not as much a point of interest as rather a “regulation of child labor” (Nardinelli 740). It is highlighted in the work by Nardinelli that “[t]he industrial revolution […] had created an economic system which depended on the labor of children, and laissez-faire policy held no hope for the improvement of the children’s condition.” (740).

Nevertheless, there was an improvement in the working conditions of children with the very first Factory Act in 1833. Namely, it “prohibited the employment of children under nine years of age in all textile mills (except silk) powered by steam or water” (Nardinelli 741). In addition to that, the working hours of child labor decreased to nine hours of work per day for children between 9 to 12 years of age. There also followed further Factory Acts with a change of working hours for children and the minimum age for employment. These Acts caused the working conditions and situations to change drastically and “Britain’s children were saved from the worst abuses of industrialization” (Nardinelli 741).

Looking at these points and including pieces of information we got in Session 3 on the Industrial Revolution, it can be concluded that this period was a very hard one – especially for the poorest part of British society. Not only did people suffer from poor living and working conditions, but also children had to work under very strict and bad conditions to help their families survive. Due to that, working-class children did not have time to go to school or do any other kinds of activities that they would like to do – they seemed to be crucial members of society who had to follow the same responsibilities as adults starting from a very young age. 

Sources: 

Humphried, Jane. "Childhood and Child Labour in the British Industrial Revolution." ''The Economic History Review'', vol. 66, no. 2, 2013, pp. 395-418. 

Nardinelli, Clark. "Child Labor and the Factory Acts." ''The Journal of Economic History'', vol. 40, no. 4, 1980, pp. 739-755. 

https://www.childrenengland.org.uk/pages/category/englands-children (last access: 07th January, 2024, 04:02 pm)