Report on Child Labor

Due to concerns on child labor, parliament, headed by Michael Thomas Sadler, investigated the condition of child employment in British factories. By gathering different testimonies of information, Sadler was able to get a true grip on the hardships of child labor.

The following was information gathered from Matthew Crabtree:

· He is a twenty two year of blanket manufacturer, employed since the age of eight

· He worked fourteen hours a day since the age of eight, at different occupations in the factory

· He received an hour off for lunch

· If Crabtree happened to be late, with a two mile walk from his house, he was most commonly beaten

· Some of the consequences from this strenuous work included common sickness, that often led to loss of appetite and vomiting, and a general fatigue almost always

· Not only was he working fourteen hours a day, but he was also on his feet running to and fro the whole time

· When a child is unable to keep going towards the late hours of the day due to fatigue, he is most commonly beaten to spur on work.

· Some common instruments for beating are a strap, a stick, and a roller

· Children, due to all of these factors, often become demoralized and oftentimes indecent

· The female workers, due to stress of work, very often have illegitimate children around the ages of sixteen and seventeen

· Sometimes the fathers of these children were grown men taking advantage of the young women