Young Workers of the Industrial Age, by Sue Wilkes - Colin
Young Workers of the Industrial Age by Sue Wilkes is sub-titled Child Labour in the 18th and 19th Centuries and that is a precise description of it, although the book has more to say about the C19th than the C18th. Wilkes has researched most industries that employed children or young people (which, in practice, means pretty much all industries of the period) and shares her findings in a highly readable text. She explains how children were employed in the industry, e.g. in brick-making, children would sift coal-dust; knead clay with their hands and feet; carry the clay to the moulder and then from the moulder to the drying area and then to the kiln. They looked after the kiln and emptied it when the bricks were baked. It was estimated that one 12-year-old girl moved 36 tons of bricks in a working day.
Although, from our privileged viewpoint in the 2020s, we can easily profess ourselves appalled at what happened, Wilkes shows us child labour through various perspectives. The only form of social support for the poor was the workhouse or orphanage and Wilkes gives us many heart-rending examples of overseers sending young inmates many miles away to be used as cheap labour. Parents were tempted to push children into employment as soon as they could, in order to add something to the family’s income. Schools charged fees and the income from two or three (or, ideally, eight or nine) children was much more attractive than paying for them to attend school.
Employers who only employed adult workers would have a much higher wage-bill than those who exploited children. If their prices were higher than competitors, they would lose sales and go out of business. That means the whole workforce – adults and children – would be out of work and might starve to death. Was it better to have starving children or dead ones?
The middle- and upper-classes might frown upon child labour and express a view that “It shouldn’t be allowed” but those same people would demand goods and services at the lowest price and fastest delivery possible. If a lady wanted a hat for next week, she wouldn’t consider the long hours that the milliner’s staff would have to work to make it.
Politicians weighed up the prospect of British goods, ethically produced, being undercut by foreign goods made cheaper by child labour; and the impact upon the balance of payments. Many politicians were also employers and refused to enact legislation that would might hit their pockets.
This is an excellent book. Although it’s crowded with mentions of Acts of Parliament; with names of heroes and villains (and the children); and with statistics, it is never too dry. The changing focus upon one industry, then another, keeps the reader’s attention. This is not a comfortable subject – one’s heart bleeds when reading the tales of exploitation and cruelty – but it is a must-read for anyone interested in social- or labour-history.
Colin
