Hidden Workers: Child Labour and the Family Economy in Late Nineteenth-Century Urban Ontario

This article concentrates on youngsters between the ages of seven and fourteen who worked outside of the industrial and commercial mainstream of late nineteenth-century urban Ontario, usually for no wages, but who still contributed in important ways to the day-to-day survival of their families. The latter part of the paper includes a brief examination of the special circumstances of foster children. The article will describe the various types of work children performed, evaluate the contribution youngsters made to the family or household economy, determine the extent to which economic responsibilities affected a child's opportunities for personal development and social mobility, and judge the reaction working children elicited from middle- and upper-class members of society. Such an examination illuminates the social and economic structure of urban-industrial Ontario in the late nineteenth century, and casts light into the shadowy corners of urban poverty, business practices, reform mentality, and class structure. [Eight reproductions of black-and-white photos of children working are included.] --From author's introduction