Factory Hours for children Essay Example

Factory Hours for children Essay Example Factory Hours for children Essay Factory Hours for children Essay During the 18th century the government was interested in defending the country. On account of this they collected taxes and in law and order. They did not think it was their place to interfere in other peoples lives. The government thought that it was none of their business to say how many hours people worked it did not occur to them that it was a problem. Before mills were built people worked at home so their working hours and conditions were unknown because they were somewhat isolated. When the Mills were built the owners main concern was to make money and most of the time, little attention was paid to the conditions or hours of the workers. Mills were crowded and soon the bad conditions became obvious. Conditions were varied not all mill owners were cruel and heartless, but by the 1830s it became clear that something had to be done to regulate the conditions in the mills and textile trade. Some employers felt it was their religious duty to take care of their workers. Robert Peel was one of those men and he employed most of Bury which included 1000 children. Peel was so shocked by the maltreatment of apprentices in other mills that he worked to get the 1802 Health and Morals of the Apprentices Act passed. Many reformers were not trying to stop the employment of children but just the excessive hours and poor treatment of them. Robert Peel was also interested in improving their behaviour and morality. Samuel Greg agreed with this bill. His apprentices were already on a twelve hour day and he has made provision for their health and morality. When the Apprentice House was set up in 1790, all his apprentices had schooling and they all went to church on Sundays. : A pressure campaign was spearheaded outside Parliament by Richard Oastler. Oastler wanted to acquire a ten hour day for workers. He started with children because they were easier to get support for and he hoped that then other workers hours would have to be shortened to match. Children were the biggest employers in the textile mills. If there was change in the cotton industry it would mean change in other industries. Inside Parliament the campaign was led by mill owner Michael Sadler and then by Lord Ashley, later the Earl of Shaftesbury. They were all worried about the excessive hours and the lack of protection given to them by the law. They perceived this to be the lack of morality among the child workers. They thought it was their religious duty to do improve all this.  1832 The House of Commons set up a committee to enquire into the case for a shorter working week.  1833 The dreadful conditions in factories were highlighted in a published report but some M.P.s said it was biased in favour of workers because no mill owners had been called to give evidence. A new Royal Commission was set up so both points of view could be heard. It was reported that two months later enough evidence had been gathered about the damage done to children and young people by the long working hours and harsh conditions. Parliament accepted something had to be done.  In the 1833 Factory Act, factories laid down hours of work for young people. Children under nine years of ages could not work. Children aged between nine or twelve could work only eight hours a day. Thirteen to eighteen year olds could work for no more than twelve hours a day. Working children had to have two hours of schooling a day. This was one of the many reasons why civil registration of births and deaths began in 1837. Mill owners could keep their factories open for the same number of hours, and women still had to work for as long as before and sometimes even longer. The 1844 Factory Act applied to textile mills. It started that women were not to work for more than 12 hours a day. To do this, factory owners had to be made a concession, the age at which children could be employed was lowered from nine to eight. But, these children were only allowed to work for six and a half hours a day instead on nine. Three hours of schooling a day was still compulsory. Mill owners could still organise shifts of child workers but because women were not allowed to work for more than twelve hours a day, it was hard to keep the mills open for as long as before. The 1847 Factory Act stated that women and young people could not work for longer than ten hours a day. In some mills this meant a ten-hour day. Many mill owners claimed that they could not make a profit if their mills only worked for ten hours. By working out a shift system for the women and children and by making the men work a fifteen or sixteen hour day, they got around the act. The 1850 Factory Acts was a something of a compromise. Parliament had agreed to an act which increased the amount of time women and children had to work but reduced the hours which men worked, a ten and a half hour day was to be worked in all mills by men, women and young people.