Talk:Child labor laws in the United States

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 24 August 2021 and 11 December 2021. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Naa1000441518.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 17:25, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

Historical milieu
Contrary to modern expectations, children did not hate working! They liked being out of the house and contributing to their families welfare. The wonderful child labor laws came about when the shifting American demographic forced children into competition with adult labor. The adults usually lost and, being able to vote (!), passed laws "protecting" children. It all sounded and sounds so wonderful. Except it wasn't quite like that at all.

The photographs of children looking exceedingly glum were taken when the photographer told them to hold a position for a long time. There was no way a child could hold an expression that long except straight-faced! Student7 (talk) 13:54, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Child welfare
So, according to this article, the final passage of child labor "protection" was actually to benefit the adults! 192.223.163.5 (talk) 00:12, 5 March 2009 (UTC)


 * Pretty much. Lots of pious breastbeating, of course, but kids had always worked up until then. All adults had worked as kids. Schooling prior to the 20th century was fairly desultory and was work-oriented. Why would farmers want their kids to leave the farm? They needed all the help they could get. Kids were "needed" in the city to bring home those few extra bucks, not appreciating that they were depriving adults of jobs. Only in looking back, do reformers say "tsk, tsk." Not really obvious at the time. BTW, for many jobs and not just unskilled, kids worked a lot faster than adults! Did everything at a run. Why would an employer want to hire adults! Scary in retrospect!


 * Really needed an new economic "paradigm" to happen. Student7 (talk) 22:22, 6 March 2009 (UTC)

Irrelevant?
The article says, " In 1853, Charles Loring Brace founded the Children's Aid Society, which worked hard to take in children living on the street. The following year, the children were placed on a train headed for the West, where they were adopted, and often given work. By the late 1800s, the orphan train had stopped running altogether, but its principles lived on."

What does the Children's Aid Society have to do with child labor laws? It seems to be that the aim was simple charity.

He gave them work, desirable in the 19th century. But what does that have to do with labor laws?

What do the principles of the orphan train have to do with anything? Interesting, probably applicable to a lot of other topics, but labor laws??? So what? Student7 (talk) 13:46, 12 October 2009 (UTC)
 * Agreed. Marked for removal unless someone thinks it should stay. ---Shane Landrum (cliotropic) 04:49, 26 January 2011 (UTC)

Reorganization and Documentation
I've rearranged the article a bit and begun to document it more historically. Needs more detail in all sections, especially the bit about why children's wage labor was popular, when, and where. ---Shane Landrum (cliotropic) 04:54, 26 January 2011 (UTC)

Changed section title Activism against child labor to Reformation of child labor laws
Section title needs to be more broad. New title adds more neutrality. Naa1000441518 (talk) 22:05, 26 November 2021 (UTC)