Child Labour

Child Labour in the Victorian Era
The time of child labour in the Victorian era was a cruel unforgiving time, but allowed many industries to flourish such as the workhouses referenced in the play “A Christmas Carol” when Scrooge and the solicitor and talking and they say
 "And the Union workhouses?" demanded Scrooge. "Are they still in operation?"
"They are. Still," returned the gentleman, "I wish I could say they were not."
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(The front of a Victorian workhouse)
This shows that regardless of the time of year (Christmas) the main priority of the workhouse was to stay active and make money. The people who worked in them were usually very poor, in debt, orphans or people who were unemployed, this means that the workhouse allowed you to have a place to stay which provided you with food and clothing, but meant you were subject to working however long the owners of the workhouse decided. The rules were not any different for children; they still had to do the same amount of work for the same amount of time as any other worker, this helped to promote a kind of equality in the workhouse and try and maintain a calm, productive atmosphere.
Image result for chimney sweeper
(An example of  an average chimney sweep)
Child labour was not only apparent in the workhouse, a common practice was also chimney sweeping, where if the child was small enough would be sent down the chimney from the top and had to clean it so that the smoke would flow through. There were many chimney sweepers as it was a time where chimneys in London were used every day as there was no central heating meaning your only source of heat came from the fireplace being lit. It was normal for children to get stuck in the fireplace and die, get Chimney Sweep Cancer (a form of cancer that affects the scrotum which is incredibly painful and fatal) or die from suffocation from the amount of soot in the chimney.  This mainly happened because the children were too young and lungs were not fully developed enough to handle harsh smoke and high levels of dust and soot.
Although a law against the employment of children as chimney sweeps was passed in 1788 many were still used due to their small stature, it was only until 1833 when The Factory Act was passed that all child labour in London was abolished.

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