From the late 1800s to the early 19005, child labor in coal mines was highly popular. These children, known as Breaker Boys, worked long hours in terrible conditions for little pay and at a high risk of injury and sickness. The boys, most between the ages of 8 and 12, worked 12-hour days for as little as 60 cents per day. Working in the mines, for these boys, was a necessity, since their fathers often did not earn enough money to feed the family Few outside the mining community knew of the horrors of child labor and even fewer still cared enough to attempt to change conditions. These attempts were quickly silenced by the powerful coal companies, The miners themselves could do very little, for risk of being fired. The Breaker Boys separated impurities, such as slate, from the coal and separated the coal by size The breakers in which they worked were not heated so that, in winter, it was necessary to wear coat, hats, and scarves.
They could not wear gloves because they relied on touch to differentiate the slate from coal. There was no ventilation in the breaker, causing copious amounts of coal dust to build up and linger in the air Breathing coal dust gave the child laborers many ailments such as tuberculosis and bronchitis. The boys spent many hours perched on narrow wooden seats over conveyor belts picking out pieces of slate and other rock from the coal. Spending long hours in this cramped position contributed to various ailments such as curvature shoulders and spine and stunted growth, Earning little pay and working long hours left them with little food, causing them to be chronically underweight.
Also, the long hours created a high accident rate Many accidents that occurred were injuries to the hands, such as broken fingers Children who worked in the breakers rarely went to school. Those who did received little benefit from it after having worked a 12—hour shift. This led to a very low literacy rate ad an inability to for child laborers to acquire better, higher paying jobs, Having little schooling, and growing up under poor conditions led to many bad habits. Smoking became popular among children working in the breaker, some as young as eight The boys also practiced the “knock down”. In the “knockdown”, they would meet ad agree to take a set amount out of their pay before giving it to their parents. This reduced the chance of being caught when their mothers compared notes on payday. This money was used by the younger boys to buy candy and cigarettes and by the older boys to buy cigars, tobacco and go to the saloon In 1876, progressives began to call for mandatory minimum age legislation.
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They gained wide spread attention when they staged anti-child labor protests in Philadelphia By 1885, a law was passed by the Pennsylvania state legislature that prohibited boys under fourteen and girls of any age from working in the mines. Since most families were poor and needed money for food, they lied about their children’s age so that they could work. Child labor laws continued to get stricter, though, and, in 1887, a law was passed setting the minimum working age to 12 for all types of industrial employment. The Office of Factory Inspection was created in 1889 to monitor industrial safety and check for child labor law violations. In 1919, a federal study into child labor recommended tougher child labor laws. In response to this, the Bureau of Women and Children was created. The Bureau aided the Office of Factory Inspection in monitoring child labor law compliance. Due to continued adult unemployment and horrible working conditions for children, Pennsylvania Governor George Earle signed a law raising the minimum working age to sixteen, establishing an eight-hour workday, forty-four hour workweek for children under eighteen and barring children under twenty-one from certain dangerous occupations in 1935.
