Industrial Revolution: Child Labor

19th Century Britain M. Riggs

Young Girl working

This is a young girl working on the cotton mill and she is absolutely hating every minute that she works.
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Jobs Done By Children

  • Children as young as 5 and 6 joined agricultural gangs and worked in the fields that were normally a good ways away from their homes.
  • Many children were used as chimney sweeps due to their size and agility. The children could get in and out of the chimney faster than any adult.
  • Most children worked in factories and they had a wide variety of jobs, such as being a scavenger, separating cotton from seeds, or spinning thread.
  • Young boys worked in the mines because they were small enough to maneuver through tight spaces and they required only a low amount of pay.

Children Working Long Hours

Thess are children that have been working long hours with little breaks and in tight conditions.
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Hours, Food, and Working Conditions

  • Sometimes children worked for up to 19 hours a day with only a 1 hour total break time.
  • Usually children worked from 12-14 hours a day with no breaks.
  • The working conditions were horrible and children usually worked on dangerous, heavy machinary that caused serious injuries and sometimes even death.
  • The children barely had any time to eat, but when they did they didn't have much. Some foods they were given was oatcakes, porridge, bread and soups, mutton, bacon, potatoes, gruel, apples, beer, and tea.

Coal Miners

This is a picture of cola miners. during this process the walls and/or ceiling could collapse causing serious injuries and even death.
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Accidents that often Happened

  • Usually when children were injured they just were fired and given little help. There was always another child waiting in line to work.
  • Children that worked in coal mines were in constant fear of cave-ins they were rare, but they did happen and when they did many were injured and died.
  • When machines broke down in factories children had to fix them and when they did it could caused them to lose limbs and sometimes die.
  • While children were working their hands and arms could get caught in the machines and within seconds they could lose skin, muscle, and sometimes bone.


This is a picture of a child that did something wrong in the factory and he is crying because he knows that he is about to be punished for it.
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Punishments Children Faced

  • Usually when children worked slow in factories they were hit with a strap to make them work faster.
  • Also if children were getting drowsy or falling asleep at work their heads would be dipped into the water cistern to keep them wide awake.
  • If you were working at a factory and you ran away you could be placed into prison for leaving your job.
  • If a child was a potential runaways they would be placed in irons.

Ending Child Labor

This is a picture of children protesting to end child labor in England.
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