Search Results for: child labor

Children Hurt at Work: 1932

Article written by Gertrude Folks Zimand, Director Research and Publicity, National Child Labor Committee, appearing in The Survey. “One of the many tragic aspects of the industrial exploitation of children is the army of boys and girls who, at the outset of their industrial careers, fall victims to the machine. Each year, in the sixteen states which take the trouble to find out what is happening to their young workers, no less than a thousand children under eighteen years are permanently disabled and another hundred are killed.”

But the Children Are Earning: 1935

Miss Bailey Says…
We have to park our principles sometimes in the face of the realities of family situations where the only cash is what children earn. What can a worker do, for instance, about:

A ten-year-old boy who peddles pencils downtown at night to get money for movies, roller-skates and hot dogs?

A family that bare-facedly lies about the ages of children too young to work but whose earnings are desperately needed?

A boy of seventeen, oldest of a turbulent flock who gets his first job, and a pretty good one, and leaves home to live on his own?

A docile girl of eighteen, oldest of six and only one working, who gives her father, for family purposes, every penny of her meager weekly wage??

Crushing Out Our Children’s Lives (1931)

Written by Helen Keller, an Article in Home Magazine, 1931. “I WONDER how many of you have Miss Abbott’s annual report of the Children’s Bureau. The part relating to child labor is distressing. Miss Abbott tells us that there was a steady increase in child labor during the three years preceding the present period of depression and unemployment. According to reports from sixty cities in thirty-three states, 220,000 full-time working certificates were issued to children between fourteen and eighteen years of age in 1929, as against 150,000 in 1928.”

Child Welfare League History 1919-1977

The Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) grew out of child welfare advocates’ demands for better communication and regulation among agencies and institutions serving children.

Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938

On May 24, 1937, President Roosevelt sent the bill to Congress with a message that America should be able to give “all our able-bodied working men and women a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.” He continued: “A self-supporting and self-respecting democracy can plead no justification for the existence of child labor, no economic reason for chiseling worker’s wages or stretching workers’ hours.”

Children’s Aid Society of Pennsylvania

Written by Michael Barga. The Children’s Aid Society of Pennsylvania (CAS of PA) was formed in 1882 and was one of the first organizations dedicated to the care of children. The organization’s work has combined policy and direct service over the years, and the Society’s responsiveness to communal needs is especially highlighted through their efforts in times of war, depression, and social discord.

Children’s Bureau

Children’s Bureau The early 1900’s was a time when social reformers were attempting to abolish abusive child labor practices and enact state legislation prohibiting factories and farmers employing very young children at very low wages. Some child welfare advocates recognized that the federal government was not yet fully engaged in addressing the physical or…

Christ Child Society

Written by Michael Barga. “The Christ Child Society was founded in Mary Virginia Merrick’s home at the end of the 19th century as a small relief organization which sewed clothes for local underprivileged children.”

Children’s Bureau: Part II

Written by: Dorothy E. Bradbury, Assistant Director, Division of Reports Children’s Bureau. “In getting underway–and in carrying out the three children’s pro-grams for which it was given responsibility under the Social Security Act–the Bureau in characteristic fashion turned to advisory groups for advice and guidance. Advisory groups were immediately set up for each of the programs. For the most part, these were professional people concerned with the technical aspects of the program.”