Question

1802 health and morals of apprentices act

Answer 1

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The 1802 Health and Morals of Apprentices Act was the earliest reform act passed by the British government during the Industrial Revolution.  The Act set rules regarding the employment and housing of children by factory owners.

Background and detail:

It had been the practice of many factory owners to employ orphans and children from very poor families in their factories, calling them "apprentices."  They did not pay the children in wages. They could get by providing only lodging and food for them.  The conditions in factories for the children were harsh and awful.   Many children got sick and died.

Meanwhile, Robert Owen was pioneering new ideas for working together at the  New Lanark, Scotland, cotton mill that he managed.  Owen's was one of the pioneers of socialist theory.  He strongly favored better working conditions, and influenced Prime Minister Robert Peel to put the Health and Morals of Apprentices Act through Parliament in 1802.  The Act put into law the following rules for factories and child labor:

• A maximum 12 hour working day for children
• Mills were required to have sufficient windows for a flow of fresh air
• Regular washing of walls and floors
• Separate bedrooms for boys and girls
• No more than two children per bed
• Children needed to be given instruction in reading, writing and arithmetic
• On Sundays, children were to have at least an hour of Christian teaching provided by a Church of England minister