Child labour in Britain, 1750-1870 / Peter Kirby.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kirby, Peter, 1957-

Series:

Social history in perspective

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Child labor--Great Britain--History.

Child labor.

History.

Great Britain.

Physical Description:

ix, 172 pages ; 22 cm.

Other Title:

Child labor in Britain, 1750-1870

Place of Publication:

Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Sources for the History of Child Labour 9

Quantitative Sources 11

Government Reports and Reports of Inspectors 13

Health Records 15

Business Accounts 16

Household Accounts 16

Apprenticeship and Service 17

Non-Quantitative Sources 18

Chapter 2 The Social and Demographic Context of Child Labour 26

Leaving Home and Starting Work 32

The Parish and the Poor Law 37

Production and Reproduction 40

Chapter 3 Child Labour and the Organisation of Production 51

The Agrarian Child Labour Market 55

Workshops, Handicrafts and Apprentices 60

The Urban Labour Market 68

The Industrial Labour Market 71

The Employment and 'Unemployment' of Children 79

Chapter 4 Child Labour and the State 93

Humanitarianism 97

Working-Class Organisations and Child Labour 101

The Regulation of Child Occupations 103

Inspection and Enforcement 105

Child Labour Laws and the Labour Market 110

Schooling and Child Labour 111

'Social Control' 114

Literacy and Labour 115

Appendix Classification of Occupations Used in Tables 3.1-3.7, from the 1851 Census 135.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 146-159) and index.

ISBN:

0333671937

0333671945

OCLC:

52464615