Child Labor
Children mostly orphans as young as six years old during the Industrial Revolution worked terrible hours for little pay even sometimes no pay. They worked 12 to 13 hour days sometimes even 19 hours during a busy season, and with a total break time of one hour. The conditions in the factories were terrible. Many accidents happened in the factories because the children were uneducated and careless. They sometimes lost body parts such as fingers, hands, toes, feet, and/or even there life. In 1833 the Factory Act improved certain things. Children were paid a portion of what an adult would get paid. Some factories would get away with paying the kids nothing. A young boy explain his pay plan which was, "They [boys of eight years] used to get 3d [d is the abbreviation for pence] or 4d a day. Now a man's wages is divided into eight eighths; at eleven, two eighths; at thirteen, three eighths; at fifteen, four eighths; at twenty, a man's wagesÐ About 15s [shillings]."