As part of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, the International Labour Organization (ILO) was founded in the wake of the devastation of the Great War (World War I). Its purpose was to “reflect the belief that universal and lasting peace can be accomplished only if it is based on social justice.” (ILO.org)
Meeting annually, ILO founders resolved on several recommendations to member nations designed to set basic standards for working conditions. These recommendations, while not legally binding, gave guidelines to give workers in all member nations opportunities, reasonable compensation, and other conditions that respected the dignity and elemental needs of all people.
R41 Recommendations Covered Working Hours and Hazardous Conditions for Child Labor
Recommendations covered a wide spectrum of concerns from unemployment compensation to preventing anthrax to setting limits on working hours in several specified industries. One measure named R41 Minimum Age (non-industrial employment) Recommendation, 1932, addressed five specific areas of concern regarding child labor:
1. Light Work
This portion strongly recommended limiting as much as possible the working hours of children in order to protect their physical and mental health and their education. It laid out categories for “light work” and sought for parental consent and a medical certificate of physical fitness.
2. Employment in Public Entertainments
This addressed mostly actors and other entertainers. The recommendation was to prohibit such employment under age 12 except “within the narrowest limits and only allowed in so far as the interests of art, science or education may require.”
3. Dangerous Employments
This regarded the dangers to “life, health or morals” of the workers. Specifically mentioned were acrobatics, working around disease, and the sale of alcohol. Girls were considered at higher risk, needing a higher age set in order to work in such occupations.
4. Prohibition of Employment of Children by Certain Persons
Of specific concern were the “moral interests” of the employed. They were to be protected from employment with “persons who gave been condemned for certain serious offences or who are notorious drunkards.” Such employers could use their own children, but no one else’s, even if those children lived in their homes.
5. Enforcement
Recommended methods of enforcement included public registration of working youth as well as employment or identification books of these children.
Action following passage of the R41 recommendation came quickly. In 1932, more than 1600 general employment certificates were issued for 14 and 15 year olds in Philadelphia alone. More than 2700 were issued for 16 and 17 year olds during that same time period. (McConnell)
New Deal Made Child Labor Age Limits Legally Binding
Being non-binding and non-enforceable, these measures were easily ignored during the Great Depression by employers who enjoyed greater profit margins by disregarding them. With the election that same year of Franklin Delano Roosevelt as President of the United States, so-called “New Deal” measures that were binding and enforceable were put into place. One of those, the National Industrial Recovery Act (NRA) limited child labor to those at least 14 years of age, and dictated at least three hours of schooling per day.
Of course, these standards were pushed aside when the NRA was declared unconstitutional in 1935. In 1938, the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed, making permanent the NRA’s limitations on child labor as well as its minimum wage and maximum work hours laws. These laws were binding in most industries except for agriculture and domestic work.
The effects of R41 are continue today. Work permits are common in many states in the U.S. Rules governing minor registration and permits for employment are governed at the state level, not federal. Special permits are required for entertainment. For the most part, employment of minors is limited to ages 14 and up. Those under 16 years of age are restricted in the number of hours they may work. Exceptions exist depending on industry. Children working for their own parents also have much greater latitude in hours and conditions.
References:
Henretta, James, et al. America’s History. Bedford/St. Martin’s. 2008
International Labour Organization. www.ilo.org
McConnell, Beatrice. “The Shift in Child Labor”. The Survey. May, 1933.
National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933
Elizabeth Linehan - Elizabeth studied American Sign Language at Brigham Young University. She has worked with hearing impaired and multipli-handicapped ...
Join the Conversation