“C” is for Child labor. In the late 19th century, with the coming of the textile industry to South Carolina, there was a demand for relatively unskilled labor. Cheap to employ, easily controlled, and with small, nimble fingers, children were well suited to perform the repetitive, minor tasks that the textile industry demanded. In South Carolina great numbers of children--some as young as five years of age-- worked in the mills--often ten to twelve hours a day, six days a week. In 1900, children made up more than 25 percent of the textile workforce. Efforts at reform began in 1903, but child labor laws were loosely-written and seldom enforced. During the 1920s and 1930s, improved machinery in the textile industry required workers to be more skilled. Women also began entering the workforce and child labor gradually disappeared.
“C” is for Child Labor
