Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Child labor
(1,416 words)

1. Introduction

In the context of child labour, “child” for historians means those under the age of fourteen, and “labor” (Work) usually means gainful employment, although all forms of economic activity are sometimes included. The term (as Kinderarbeit) is first found in German encyclopedias only after the middle of the 19th century, but it probably came into use from the late 18th, as the concentration of a child workforce in the developing manufactories and factories of Northern a…

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Papathanassiou, Maria, “Child labor”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_022111>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20160907



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