Child labor was very common during the early
Industrial Revolution in
Britain. Children were small so they were used to push carts through narrow
mine shafts and clean factories because they could fit into tight spaces. They were payed nearly nothing, worked up to 16 hours a day, and were beaten if they were accused of idling. The families of these children were okay with the idea of them working because they needed the extra money, and the parents were at work all day so they thought it was better for the child to be at a job rather than being home alone. These children were as young as seven.
Factories and mines made deals with orphanages, so many of the child laborers were made up of orphans. The factory owners liked having orphans on their work-force because they could be beaten, starved, and payed absolutely nothing. Besides, if an orphan got stuck in a machine and died, nobody would find out about it because nobody cared about orphans.