WASHINGTON, March 3, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:
CHILD LABOR
Profile America — Tuesday, March 3rd. Children have worked for family enterprises like farms and small shops for countless generations. But child labor in mines and the often-dangerous factories arising from the Industrial Revolution was quickly regarded as a social ill. In response, Massachusetts became the first state to regulate child labor on this date in 1842. The modest measure prohibited children under the age of 12 from working more than 10 hours a day. Now, all states have statutes regulating child labor, and nationally, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 provides basic protection for children under 16. In the U.S. today, out of a population of some 309 million people, about 70 million are age 16 and younger. Meanwhile, some 160 million Americans over the age of 16 are in the workforce. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at www.census.gov.
Sources: Kane's Famous First Facts, 4574
Child Labor Laws: https://www.continuetolearn.uiowa.edu/laborctr/child_labor/about/us_history.html
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/history-child-labor
http://www.city-data.com/states/Massachusetts-Labor.html
Population and current labor force: http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_13_1YR_DP03&prodType=table
Child labor law: http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/youthlabor/agerequirements.htm
Population age groups: http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=PEP_2013_PEPAGESEX&prodType=table
Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotions of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button).
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SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau
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