Child Labour in Britain, 1750-1870

ISBN-13: 9780333671948 / Angielski / Miękka / 2003 / 172 str.

Peter Kirby

Opis

Peter Kirby's analytical survey of child labor during the industrial revolution asserts that the concentration by some historians and social commentators upon small numbers of industrially-employed children has diverted attention from the important role of the working child within the context of the family, the labor market and the state. Kirby convincingly argues that during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, child labor provided an invaluable contribution both to economic growth and to the incomes of working-class households. The book also discusses the major issues involved in the study of children's employment.

Spis treści

List of Tables.- List of Figures.- Preface.- Introduction.- Sources for the History of Child Labour.- The Social and Demographic Context of Child Labour.- Child Labour and the Organisation of Production.- Child Labour and the State.- Conclusion.- Further Reading.- Appendix.- Bibliography.- Index.

O autorze

PETER KIRBY is Lecturer in Economic History at the University of Manchester.

Blurb

What kinds of jobs did children do in the past, and how widespread was their employment? Why did so many poor families put their children to work? How did the state respond to child labour? What problems arise in the interpretation of evidence of child employment?

Child Labour in Britain, 1750-1870
- Offers a broad empirical analysis of how the work of children was integrated with the major economic and occupational changes of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Britain
- argues that working children occupied a unique position within the context of the family, the labour market and the state
- discusses the key issues involved in the study of children's employment

In this clear and concise study, Peter Kirby convincingly argues that child labour provided an invaluable contribution to economic growth and the incomes of working-class households. Consequently, the picture that emerges is much more complex than that portrayed in many traditional approaches to the subject.