Factory Acts

In the history of Social and Public Policy, the 1833 Factory Act can be asserted as a critical piece of legislation because it recognised that the state could intervene by establishing frameworks to enforce parliamentary decisions for humanitarian purposes. This decisive change helped meet serious needs through enabling protections for children’s working conditions using regulatory inspectors. While laying these foundations led to further reform that built upon new ways of thinking on how to assist more people, its actual effectiveness left much to be desired, rendering it limited in terms of execution and scope. The 1833 Factory Act was arguably a critical piece of legislation in Social and Public Policy history due to being the first time the government took responsibility for enforcing laws concerning child workers’ welfare. Prior to this, a trend of failed policies due to poor implementation, namely the 1788 Chimney Sweep Act, 1802 Health and Morals of Apprentices Act and, the 1819 Cotton Mills Act highlight why the Factory Act’s inspectorate made it significant. Accepting their role in not only in prescribing regulations but also putting them into practice to ensure rights were upheld consolidated this juncture. It can therefore be seen as an important ideological evolution that broadened capacity by moving away from a ‘laissez-faire’…

The Factory Act of 1833 was the first major legislation restricting the use of child labour in British textile factories. There had been previous reforms starting in 1803, however these attempts did not achieve much success. The Factory Act was the first act to introduce a ten hour work day for children under thirteen. More importantly, it created a system of inspectors to enforce the regulations. This was a significant reform that majorly affected the policies of textile factories. These…

The Factory Act (1833) was part of the Whig Reform programme, which ran from 1833-1841 and was undertaken as a defensive response to fears of revolution and anarchy in the wake of revolution elsewhere in Europe. (Historyhome.co.uk, 2016) It was one of many social reforms of the time and there is division amongst historians as to its importance and success. This paper will analyse its content, make an analysis of its value and conclude that while the 1833 Factory Act was a critical piece of…

or Sunday schools. The majority were seen as child labour and worked long hours in factories. The factory acts started to change this perception of children and gave them a basic education and better working conditions. The first act in 1802 was promoted by Sir Robert Peel, an MP and also a wealthy factory owner himself. The act was the first of its kind to address the working condition of children in factories. The Peel Act as it was known only applied to apprentices under 21 years old. It…

The Factories Act of 1847 established that women and children could work a maximum of 58 hours a week with weekdays limited to ten hours, Saturday to eight hours, and Sunday as the day off. This landmark bill proposed by John Fielden spoke to the societal issues of worker’s health and of the welfare of England’s youth in England’s industrialized economy however, the bill faced tenacious opposition led by Robert Peel. Through vigorous debate in 1846 and 1847, Robert Peel, the former prime…

workforce. Whether it be working as servants, apprentices or simply assisting around the house or on the farm, children did a significant amount of work. These acts of obedience definitely made a difference, but child labor was taken to a whole new extreme at the end of the eighteenth century. During this time, the people of Britain were desperate to find jobs, especially those with families. The income that was needed depended on the size of these families. In most cases, every family member,…

The Industrial Revolution created a faster mode of transportation, the Steam Engine. The steam engine positively affected the people in the Industrial Revolution and so did the factories built. The Industrial Revolution, itself, had helped create many new inventions that made farming, writing, and traveling more easier for the people of the revolution. Although many children and factory workers faced many problems, it eventually led to the Factory Acts and the School Sites Acts, some of the…

The Industrial Revolution was a period of great inventions, new machinery, and the rise of multiple factories. The Industrial Revolution had made hard labor easier for the people. Although, since more factories had opened, people would hire children. This is called Child Labor. During the time of the Industrial Revolution, the problem of Child Labor had occurred. Child Labor is wrong because kids did not have safe working conditions and this unsafe practice was regulated by the Factories Act…

reformers within Parliament who wanted to see changes. Thomas Macaulay, a liberal member of Parliament, claimed that ”People live longer because they are better fed, better lodged… and better attended in sickness(Doc 5). Liberals pressing for reform was one of the reasons that Parliament started passing a series of Factory Acts. The Act of 1833 banned hiring children under nine years of age, and required at least two hours of schooling for 9 through 18 year olds each day. The Act of 1847 (Ten…

Throughout our history, children have always worked in some capacity. Working children played a substantial role during the Industrial Revolution which inevitably led to economic growth and prosperity. Some children, however, were unable to attend school because their families were forcing them to work long strenuous hours under harsh and unstable conditions in order to provide financial support. The onset of The Fair Labor Standards Act later helped to combat some of the strident conditions…