The Conditions of the Poor in London 1792

I want to speak to all of you because I have observed something which is wrong! The population increases. But this doesn’t improve the conditions for our children. There is limited opportunity for education, and the children are expected to work. Employers pay a child less than an adult even though they do the same job. There is no need for the strength to operate an industrial machine, and since the industrial system is completely new there are no experienced adult laborers. It’s more normal that the workers are often children now at days. Child labor has always existed, but with the increase in population and education it is more visible now at days. Many children are forced to work in relatively bad conditions for much lower pay than the elderly people. We have to write some detailed abuses, particularly in the coal mines and the textile factories, so we can help to popularize the children’s plight. Especially the upper and middle classes have to help the young worker and their welfare. But we can’t change anything without the politicians and the government’s help. They have to try limiting child labor by law. But it’s going to be hard, because the factory owners will resist. They feel that they are aiding the poor by giving their children money to buy food, so they don’t die because of starvation.