1913 Massachusetts Passes Legislation to Regulate the Labor of Minors

One of the biggest tragedies of exploitative labor practices is the damaging effect it has on children. Child laborers in Massachusetts were forced to work long hours in dangerous environments for nearly nonexistent pay. It was often the children of impoverished parents who found themselves put to work and despite the low wages paid to minors; these families often became dependent on the income their kids brought in. As a result, children were rarely taken from work and given an education.

Opponents of child labor argued that there were far-reaching consequences to the continued use of child labor. Besides the direct penalties felt by the children, there was also the fact that widespread use of child labor meant that a generation of working-class children would grow up without being given a proper education. When these children became adults, they would be unable to defend their independence against upper-class manipulation. Many attempts were made to pass legislation that would protect children, but these bills, when they passed, were weak and poorly enforced. It wasn’t until 1913 when the Massachusetts Labor Movement successfully pushed for a significant piece of child labor regulations. This bill mandated various improvements to the working conditions of child laborers, including shorter hours so that more children could receive and education. One focal point of this legislation was keeping young children out of dangerous workplaces. This was done by putting minimum ages on certain professions. For example, the bill mandated that children under the age of sixteen not work around metal cutting machines or near any other dangerous electrical machinery or appliances. It took three more years before the Federal Government passed anything similar to this bill. 1913 was also the year that Massachusetts passed a piece of legislation that set the first minimum wage law for women and minors in the workforce. These two pieces of legislation made Massachusetts a trailblazer on the path to end the exploitation of child laborers.

 To read the 1913 Child Labor Bill, click here.