Child Labor was employed to varying extents through most of history. Children, ages 5-14 worked in Europe, the United States. Many of the children worked in factories, cotton mills, and mines for a tiring 12-hour shift. During the Industrial Revolution children as young as four years old worked in factories with dangerous and fatal, working conditions. With children working, as young as four they were unable to receive an education that they deserve. In coalmines, children crawled through tunnels too narrow for adults.
Although children had been servants and apprentices before child labor reached new extremes during the Industrial Revolution. Children worked long hours in dangerous factory conditions for very little pay. Child laborers worked to help support their families, but are forced to sacrifice their education. Children are preferred, because factory owners view them as more manageable, cheaper, and less likely to strike.
Even though child labor is dangerous and fatal, children are forced to provide the labor in order to support their families, which left them without a choice of education. Some boys and girls that worked in coal and iron mines began work as early as four or five and generally died before they were twenty-five. Acts were passed such as the one in 1887, which limits both adults and children to ten hours of work daily. Child labor played an important role in the Industrial Revolution. Thousands of boys were sent to work in glass making industries were the chance of injury was very high. Since workers were paid by piece, they had to work productively for hours without a break.