5Llabour1

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In Victorian England, 19th century USA, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, children were commonly used as cheap labour. The children worked in mills, factories, mines, workshops and wealthy homes.

Child labour is when a child is made to work for low wages in hard conditions. There are new laws, which say a child how old a child can be to work. Sadly, many children don’t play and some children even make toys they never play with.

Campaigning by social reform groups led to the Factory Act 1883, the Mine Act 1842 and the Factory Act 1867 in England. These laws regulated working hours, protected young children and improved working conditions. Compulsory education, introduced by the Education Act 1870, further reduced child exploitation.

In 1906 there were around 10,000 children working in factories around Australia. In 1920 there were about 20,000 children in the industries. There were approximately 34,000 children working in factories around Australia. About 6% of all childrenwere employed in factories. In 1948 less than 2% of children were employed in factories. Possible reasons for this decline were: rising rates of leaving the factories for school in some States, fewer children being available for employment, and higher level of employment, which enabled parents to keep their children at school.

In 1989 the United Nations drew up the convention on the rights of the child. A child has the right to have food, clean water, health care, and an adequate standard of living. They also have to be with their family, or in the best caring environment to ensure protection from all physical, mental and other abuse. Children have a right to play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child. There are laws to protect working children under sixteen. By Michael L and Chris z