It is impossible to discuss the history of child welfare in America without also examining the history of child labor reform. While the cause received support in the 1800s, it gained real momentum at the turn of the 20th century. In a time of significant social reform, many felt moved by the hardships of homeless, orphaned, and impoverished children. These changing attitudes helped alter the perception of these vulnerable kids from an exploitable workforce to children in need of families. The abolition of child labor contributed to the growth of many child welfare services, including foster care. Read more to explore the history of child labor in America and its relevance today.
The Origins of Child Labor
In the course of human history, child labor is not a new phenomena, whether it was hunting and gathering or housework and after-school jobs. Even today, many children in the United States start working before adulthood, but this differs from the term “child labor.” The Social Welfare History Project defines child labor as work that prevents a child from enjoying childhood or negatively affects their quality of life. Laws now exist to protect minors from participating in child labor, but this wasn’t the case a little over 100 years ago. Children from impoverished families often needed more ways to earn a living. Orphaned children also needed a way to provide for themselves in a time before organized foster care. Unfortunately, many took advantage of these vulnerable children and as the Industrial Revolution brought rapid modernization in the late 1800s, the issue of child labor grew too big to ignore.
The Exploitation of Children
The Industrial Revolution saw some of the fastest manufacturing advancements in United States history. The creation of new machines made mass production easier, increasing the use of factories over small shops. Yet, these machines still needed human operators around the clock. With the Industrial Revolution showing no signs of slowing down, businessmen required a large workforce to operate and maintain their machines. They found their answer in children. Specifically, unaccompanied, impoverished, and immigrant children who were desperate for a way to feed themselves and their families. The majority attitude of the time saw child labor as a win-win. Factories would get their workers, and these kids would become contributing members of society rather than a drag on resources.
Sadly, child workers had few, if any, protections. Factory owners frequently took advantage by paying extremely low wages and requiring long hours. Kids worked six days a week in shifts lasting anywhere from 12-18 hours. Factories also lacked safety precautions and regulations, causing severe injuries and even death. Those who worked in industries like coal mining suffered significant health issues. Some children started working as young as five years old. In the year 1900, 20% of children in the United States were employed.
A Changing America
By the second half of the 19th century, many people witnessed the harsh reality of disadvantaged children. Impoverished, orphaned, and homeless children numbered in the tens of thousands on city streets. They received little to no education and risked health issues at a much higher rate than the general population. These same children worked in factories in dangerous and exploitative environments. Efforts to serve vulnerable children began in earnest. Charles Loring Brace founded Charles Loring Brace the New York Children’s Aid Society in 1853 and created the first organized version of foster care. In Chicago in 1889, Jane Addams started the famous Hull House settlement for at-risk mothers and children. She also became one of the leading advocates for child protection. The National Child Labor Committee, founded in 1904, played an indispensable role in exposing poor working conditions for child laborers by photographing inside factories, often in secret. In response to these efforts, the US Department of Labor established a Children’s Bureau in 1912.
Resistance and Success
The fight for child labor protections wasn’t without strong opposition. States largely legislated their own child labor laws, making national efforts a challenge. The first few attempts to enact nationwide laws failed. The 1916 Keating-Owens Act banned the transportation of products made with child labor between states, but the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional. Similarly, the Child Labor Tax Law of 1919 sought to tax companies that used child labor. This was also ruled unconstitutional. Five years later, a constitutional amendment was drafted but technically never ratified.
Finally, the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed in 1938, providing multiple protections for child workers. It established a minimum wage, prohibited work for children under 14, limited the type of work 14-17 year olds could do, and restricted hazardous jobs below age 18. The United States still bases its child labor laws on this act.
Continuing the Legacy with For Others
The history of child labor in America illustrates the national reframing of vulnerable children from a burden on society to what they truly were: kids in need of safe and loving homes. This and other child welfare reforms paved the way to our modern child welfare system. While there have been great strides in protecting our vulnerable kids, our nation still faces a child welfare crisis. Over 525,000 children interact with foster care each year, with only 186,000 foster homes available. Half of these cases could have been prevented if families had received help on time. For the 15,000 youth who age out each year, most face a life of chronic poverty and a higher likelihood of incarceration, unplanned pregnancy, and health issues.
Every child deserves a safe and loving home, and every family deserves a chance to provide it. The above symptoms of the child welfare crisis stem from a root problem: the resources to help vulnerable families and children exist, but none of them are communicating with each other. For Others bridges those gaps. We strategically connect state governments, nonprofits, churches, businesses, and individuals to solve the crisis state by state. This custom, data-driven approach—called the Well-Being Support Ecosystem(TM)—focuses on keeping families together, recruiting and retaining foster families, and empowering communities to provide effective solutions.
If you share our conviction, we invite you to be a part of the solution. Donate today!
