child labour

Table of Contents

Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

A young spinner in Yazoo City

boy at Turkey Knob Mine

How the Progressive era changed child labour in the U.S.

Children hauling coal up the slope of an English mine; from an engraving of the 1840s.

See illustrator Joel Millerchip commissioned by Parliament to commemorate the Factory Act of 1833 with a banner, speaking of an event leading to its passage

Discover

Dancers at a Cinco de Mayo festival at the Mission District, San Francisco, California. (Photo dated 2019.) holidays

Is Cinco de Mayo Mexico's Independence Day?

Berries and leaves of the bittersweet nightshade (Solanum dulcamara) plant. Poisonous plant

7 of the World’s Deadliest Plants

Aurochs. Bos primigenius. Skeleton. Extinct animal. Skeleton of an Aurochs, an extinct wild ox.

6 Animals We Ate Into Extinction

Happy, smiling, flying pig

7 Everyday English Idioms and Where They Come From

Shadow of a man holding large knife in his hand inside of some dark, spooky buiding

7 of History's Most Notorious Serial Killers

Cathedrale St.Jean in Lyon, France has a 14th-century astronomical clock that shows religious feast days till the year 2019; Perpetual Calendar

Ten Days That Vanished: The Switch to the Gregorian Calendar

Close up of books. Stack of books, pile of books, literature, reading. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society

12 Novels Considered the “Greatest Book Ever Written”

child labour: Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

News •

Tenkasi Collector warns business establishments against employing minors • May 12, 2025, 5:13 AM ET (The Hindu)

Photos and Videos

A young spinner in Yazoo City

boy at Turkey Knob Mine

Children hauling coal up the slope of an English mine; from an engraving of the 1840s.

How the Progressive era changed child labour in the U.S.

See illustrator Joel Millerchip commissioned by Parliament to commemorate the Factory Act of 1833 with a banner, speaking of an event leading to its passage

See All Videos and Images →

Topics

social issue childhood labour serfdom forced labour statute labour peonage slavery

Key People

Abbott, Grace

Grace Abbott

American social worker

Florence Kelley.

Florence Kelley

American social reformer

Breckinridge, Madeline McDowell

Madeline McDowell Breckinridge

American social reformer

Helen Marot

American author, librarian, and labor organizer

Textile mill worker

Lewis Hine

American photographer