The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1907-02-16
CHILD LAB0RERS
SEVENTEEN HUNDRED AND FIF-
THOUSAND EMPLOYED.
AGES OF TEN TO Fifteen
Most cf Them Get Little Schooling
Fortunately the Greater Number
Work on Farms-laree Proportion
In Mills and Factories.


In Mills and Factories
| Washington.-The extent Of which
child labor is employed In the United
States is Sc, forth In a bulletin issued
by the census bureau yesterday. The
statistics presented are for 1900, and
relate to the employment OF children
as breadwiuners, Of whom 1850 .o00. IN
round numbers, between the ages OF
| ten and fifteen. were SO employed
preadwinners are defined as those
earning money regularly by labor.
| contributing to the family support, or
apprcciably assisting in mechanical or
agricultural industry
| By tar the most important occupa-
tIon for children is that OF agriculturaI
| laborers, the number OF children ten
to fifteen years CT age so employed be-
| ing i,G54,4i6. About two-thirds OF the
total number OF child breadwinn nners
were employed on the farm, and most
| Of these children were members OF the
! farmers families. Next in importance
comes domestic service. or the occu-
| patton Of servants and walters or
mattresses. in which 1906 children
|
| girls.
About one-third OF the children en-
ployed in gainful occupations were
fifteen years OF age. AZ. more than
one-ha!f were fourteen or fifteen
years The number Of fourteen was
| 7s0,s23. or 49, per cent. OF the whole
OF the total number OF child bread
| winners ten to fifteen years OF age
| 1922 per cent were boys and 21.S per
cent. girls Almost invariably the per
centaee OF breadwinners is Huch
greater among foreign-born children
than among native children. The per
centage OF breacwinners among negro
children is much higher than among
white children.
The cotton mills furnish employ
ment to children to a greater extent
| than any other manufacturing or me
chanIcal industry. In 1900 the mum.
ber OF cotton mill operatives ten TO
fifteen years of age was 44,427. O1
the II ,622 messengers and errand and
office boys in the United States, sixty
two per cent were district telegraph
| messengers and errand boys, 23.3 per
cent. were Office boys and 14.7 per
cent were bundle and cash boys or
girls Nine-tenths of the children en-
plDNcl III SuCH Del vice hi IVY
| The occupation OF the textile
worker or the needle trades furnished
employment to 5000 children be
tween ten and fifteen years OF age OF
whom 5,l36 were boys and 29.934
were girls The total number OF chill
dren ten to fifteen years OF age en-
gagged in the tobacco and cigar fac
tories was 11,462. OF the 49.99S glass
workers reported in 1900. 5.365. or l0.7
per cent, were from ten to fifteen
years OF age.
OF the 23.s57 children for whom .ta'
tistics were specially compiled. 1885
or 759 per cent, were living In homes
with their parents: $3.50. representing
14.3 per cent, or approximately one
seventh OF the total number, we're liv
ing with widowed mothers, and SIS
or two and four-tenths per cent, with
mothers who were living apart from
their husbands, and whose economic
position was therefore likely to be
analogous to that OF a widow. The
number OF children that were either
fathe.less. or were not living with
fathers. was 4.943, representing about
one-fifth of the total number.
The percentage OF school children
In the total population, five to nine
| yedl5 VI dSe, elEuiINiaN'u III thc
United States was 53.3, which is only
little higher than the percentage
(506) shown for selected fam
lilies included in this study. OF
the number of children ten to fourteen
years Of age in these families, only
31.9 per cent were at school. while tn.
corresponding percentage for the tota
number of children OF that age in the
United States was 19,S. But lftel
these children reach the age at which
the opportunity for employment as
wage earners begins, their school at
tendance suffers.
In the families with child bread
winners, schooling rarely extends be
yond the age of thirteen. OF the chill
dren fourteen years OF age. 974 per
cent. were employed. and only 1.6 per
cent were at school.
OF the total number OF children ten
to fourteen years of age in the United
States, seven and one-tenth per cent
were illiterate, as compared with ISIS
per cent. for the child breadwinners
Of the same age included in this tab
ulation- For the messengers and er'
rand and office boys the per cent. OF
illiteracy is comparatively small.
By far the greatest degree OF illit
eracy is that shown for the children In
cotton mills. In the South almost one.
half OF the cotton mill operatives ten
to fourteen years OF age are illiterate
and about one-fourth of those fifteen to
twenty years of age. The smaller per.
centage in the older group of opera.
tives would indicate that good many
OF these chi ren learn to read and
write after thu y arc ten years OF age
But the percentage of illiteracy in the
older group is still very high render.
ing It probable that large numbers of
these children are destined to remain
illiterate for the rest of their lives.
salton Sea Going Dry.