On this day in 1833, the Mills and Factory Act was passed in England. This was one of a series of Acts passed in the 19th century to improve the "Health and Morals" of child laborers, but it was the first effective legislation in that it empowered national inspectors with unlimited, unannounced entry to the factories. The improved regulations -- no one under 9 employed, a 48-hour week for children aged 9-12, a 68-hour week for teenagers, some minimum provisions for education and health, etc. -- were largely the result of testimony given by young workers to a Parliamentary committee investigating violations of earlier Acts ... FULL STORY »
