Some pictures above are just normal days for a child during the Industrial Revolution. What most people don't realize is child labor was around since Medieval Times but it was just children helping out their parents on the farm. The definition of child labor is; children who work to produce a good or service that can be sold for money in the marketplace , regardless if they are paid for work. Children in the 1800's were just individuals that depended on a guardian for his/her livelihood. The nature of child labor changed dramatically during the British Industrial Revolution. Children started to work outside of their homes, observed by complete strangers. The work started in factories and mines. They worked long hours in a stuffy, hot factory and damp, cold mines with little to no short recesses. Society believed that children working was necessary to help the poor and working-class families survive. Child labor did in fact play a key role in manufacturing cotton, wool, flax, silk, lace, dyeing, and coal mining. Children made up 1/2 of the workers in textile mills and 1/4 of the workers in coal and metal mines. Eventually the pessimists won and the first enforceable law for child labor was passed in 1833. Child labor did not in fact go away completely until the mid 19th century. Britain had influenced other countries around the world, including Belgium, France, Germany, and the United States, to use children as workers in key industries.