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Both happened at the time it became uneconomic to employ children, and productivity was sufficient that people didn't have to work that many hours. Why do you

Both happened at the time it became uneconomic to employ children, and productivity was sufficient that people didn't have to work that many hours. Why do you suppose there was an exemption for farm work? It's because children were needed to bring in the harvest. Children are lousy workers. What jobs in your workplace do you think they could do? None in any place I've worked.

tombert 1mo ago
> None in any place I've worked. Oh, well, if you don't think that children would be good at making compilers then child labor must not have been a problem. I guess you have a point.
- WalterBright 1mo ago
  Have a look at what children were doing at work, and then come back. In once case I know of, the children in a textile factory worked all day at replacing spent spools of thread on the weaving machines. They were replaced by a machine that did the same thing, at much lower cost. Are there any jobs at your work place that would be productively performed by children? Have you ever gotten your kids to clean their rooms or do their homework?
  - tombert 1mo ago
    No, I was making fun of the fact that you haven't seen something and you act like this is compelling evidence of anything.
    - WalterBright 1mo ago
      If you can find a dip in productivity after the laws were passed, you'd have a case.
Timon3 1mo ago
Then why are there so many signs of increasing child labor in the US? Why are Republicans rolling back protections? https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/22/child-labor-protections-republicans https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/22/child-labor-... Note that the article only measures violations of child labor laws, i.e. there are (presumably many times more) children working without violating the laws. Why are people deliberately employing lousy workers? Why are business owners lobbying to allow these lousy workers to work more hours?

tombert 1mo ago

> None in any place I've worked. Oh, well, if you don't think that children would be good at making compilers then child labor must not have been a problem. I guess you have a point.

WalterBright 1mo ago
Have a look at what children were doing at work, and then come back. In once case I know of, the children in a textile factory worked all day at replacing spent spools of thread on the weaving machines. They were replaced by a machine that did the same thing, at much lower cost. Are there any jobs at your work place that would be productively performed by children? Have you ever gotten your kids to clean their rooms or do their homework?
- tombert 1mo ago
  No, I was making fun of the fact that you haven't seen something and you act like this is compelling evidence of anything.
  - WalterBright 1mo ago
    If you can find a dip in productivity after the laws were passed, you'd have a case.

Timon3 1mo ago

Then why are there so many signs of increasing child labor in the US? Why are Republicans rolling back protections? https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/22/child-labor-protections-republicans https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/22/child-labor-... Note that the article only measures violations of child labor laws, i.e. there are (presumably many times more) children working without violating the laws. Why are people deliberately employing lousy workers? Why are business owners lobbying to allow these lousy workers to work more hours?