The Factory Act of 1833 was a long overdue reaction to dangerous factory conditions that arose during the industrial revolution. Though this act was a step in the right direction, it is still shocking what was allowed under this act, especially compared to today's standards. The regulation of child labor laws was nonexistent prior to this law. Children worked long hours in dangerous conditions, the most famous of which are the chimney sweeps.  

Several changes came as a result of the act. First, the act made it illegal to work children under the age of nine. This is a slight improvement from before when children as young as four years old were working in factories and other dangerous jobs. To make sure that employers were not being dishonest about the age of their workers, the act required that they have an age certificate for their workers. Children over the age of nine could still legally be employed, however, the Factory Act made it so they could not work more than nine hours a day. Children between the ages of 13 and 18 could work no more than 12 hours a day. Another limitation on the hours that children can work is that they cannot work at night. Under the Factory Act, children who are working are required to attend at least two hours of school each day. The work limitations did not apply to silk textile mills, which had less strict regulations. 

Obviously, the mistreatment of children in the workforce did not stop immediately, so as a part of the act, there were four inspectors assigned to each factory to make sure that these new laws were being followed. In a report taken from an inspector in 1836, we learn that even several years after the act passed factories did not always follow these laws: 

 “My Lord, in the case of Taylor, Ibbotson & Co. I took the evidence from the mouths of the boys themselves. They stated to me that they commenced working on Friday morning, the 27th of May last, at six A.M., and that, with the exception of meal hours and one hour at midnight extra, they did not cease working till four o’clock on Saturday evening, having been two days and a night thus engaged. Believing the case scarcely possible, I asked every boy the same questions, and from each received the same answers. I then went into the house to look at the time book, and in the presence of one of the masters, referred to the cruelty of the case, and stated that I should certainly punish it with all the severity in my power.”  

This progress reflects the sentiments of Romantic poets such as WIlliam Blake. The romantics were notorious critics of industrialization and child labor. Women and children were a large focus of romantic writing since they were mostly marginalized before and during this period. This act is a result of the spreading romantic movement that was a result of romantic writers. 

Works Cited

Nardinelli, Clark. “Child Labor and the Factory Acts.” The Journal of Economic History, vol. 40, no. 4, Dec. 1980. JSTOR, https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy.uvu.edu/stable/pdf/2119999.pdf?refreqid=ex.... Accessed 9 Feb. 2022.

factory-actdoc.pdf (nationalarchives.gov.uk)