The share of children employed in English cotton factories fell significantly before the introduction of effective child labor legislation in the early 1830s. The early factories employed predominantly children because adults without factory experience were relatively unproductive factory workers. The subsequent growth of the cotton industry fostered the development of a labor market for productive adult factory workers. This effect helps account for the shift toward adults in the cotton factory workforce.

JEL classification: J13, N33, O14

Authors and Affiliations

1. Centre for History and Economics, King‘s College, Cambridge CB2 1ST, UK, , , , , , GB

   Douglas A. Galbi

Received November 3, 1995/Accepted September 20, 1996

Reprints and permissions