A Brief Look at Child Labor in the United States

By AngelaGreben
  • Child Labor Strike in Philadelphia

    Child Labor Strike in Philadelphia

    Child Labor Strike in Philadelphia. Getty Images
  • Tipple Boy, Turkey Knob Mine, Three-Quarter Length Portrait, MacDonald, West Virginia, USA, Lewis Hine for National Child Labor Committee, August 1908

    Tipple Boy, Turkey Knob Mine, Three-Quarter Length Portrait, MacDonald, West Virginia, USA, Lewis Hine for National Child Labor Committee, August 1908

    Tipple Boy, Turkey Knob Mine, Three-Quarter Length Portrait, MacDonald, West Virginia, USA, Lewis Hine for National Child Labor Committee, August 1908. Getty Images
  • Jo Lehman

    Jo Lehman

    Jo Lehman, a 7 year old newsboy. Location: New York, New York., July 1910. Photographs by Lewis Hine. Hine gave up his teaching job in 1908 to become a full-time photographer for the National Child Labor Committee. The success of the reform agency was largely dependent on its ability to sway public opinion. Getty Images
  • Portrait Of A Young Bootblack

    Portrait Of A Young Bootblack

    Michael Mero, Bootblack, 12 years of age, working one year of own volition. Don't smoke. Out after 11 P.M. on May 21, Ordinarily works 6 hours per day. US National Archives
  • Young Bakers

    Young Bakers

    Young girls bake bread at the Boston 1915 Exhibit. | Location: Boston 1915 Exhibit, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Getty Images
  • Punching Index Cards

    Punching Index Cards

    An unidentified fifteen-year-old girl operates a machine punch at the Boston Index Card Company. Getty Images
  • Child's work: Cotton picker, Texas, Photograph, Around 1935

    Child's work: Cotton picker, Texas, Photograph, Around 1935

    UNSPECIFIED - CIRCA 1935: Child's work: Cotton picker, Texas, Photograph, Around 1935. Getty Images

  • The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938

    According to the act,...Children under eighteen cannot do certain dangerous jobs, and children under sixteen cannot work in manufacturing or mining or during school hours. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Labor_Standards_Act_of_1938
  • WWII US Children Workers

    WWII US Children Workers

    Eager Oregon youngsters crowd into the State Labor Bureau office to hand in their applications to obtain work permits for jobs in industries short of men, in Portland, June 4, 1942. The youngsters are applying at the office at the rate of 300 a day. Oregon requires permits for all children between the ages of 14 and 18 for all but agricultural jobs. (AP Photo) From the AP Images database.
  • A Shoe Shine Girl

    A Shoe Shine Girl

    A shoe shine girl working, shining a man's shoes on the sidewalk; the man is sitting on a folding chair and holding a newspaper, New York, ca.1950s. Getty Images
  • Young Twin Sisters Sitting on Chair

    Young Twin Sisters Sitting on Chair

    The Murphy sisters, Diane (left) and Erin are the three-year-old mini-actresses who appear in the TV series, Bewitched. There has to be two Tabatha's because of strict child labor laws which limit the number of hours a tot may work on a set. So when one twin runs out of time, the other is called in. Getty Images