Child Labor in the Industrial Era

Child labor was the norm in the rapidly industrializing 19th century London. It was the sad fact that most London families simply could not support themselves through the adult’s income alone, they needed the supplemental income of their children to sustains a semblance of a life. And what about the luxury of education? : "In 1840 perhaps only twenty percent of the children of London had any schooling”. A child like Toby actual was pretty lucky to have scored the job that he did, especially if we are to assume that belongs to the group of orphans coined “the abandoned children". The majority of the young children his age were working in coal mines, as chimney sweeps, or in factories under appalling conditions. That being said, even cushy job’s such as being a shop hand required 80 hour work weeks for only halfpence per hour (half a penny). These brutal conditions and expectations of a young child led to a multitude of health problems and shortened lives. Those who did live long enough to have children of their own often simply contented the vicious cycle until radical labor laws were passed later on.