Managing Editor
GRACE STOCKDON, 1892
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
Sixteen hour days, poor wages and filthy working conditions. Welcome to the world of child laborers. Across the country, families are sending their children away to work in factories from as young as 4 years old. Due to the sudden arrival of thousands of immigrants, the unemployment rate rose dramatically. Immigrants are willing to work for lower pay, and this has put many U.S. citizens out of work. Families are scrambling for every penny they can earn– and turning to their children to help them in these difficult times.
Statistics show that 25% of the laborers working in a textile mill were below the age of fifteen, and many were younger than twelve years old. Although laws are in place that requires children to attend a minimum amount of school, these rules are routinely broken by desperate families. Recently, organizations such as Hull House have been campaigning for a minimum age requirement of factory workers, in hopes of ending child labor. These acts are not always met with open arms, though. Many large companies and corporations rely on underage workers as the majority of their employees. The machines are too large to be safely operated by children, and many can be seriously injured or killed.
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