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Children in a library tent for migratory farm workers

1 The hardships faced by Depression families placed heavy responsibilities
on the shoulders of the young. Children had to grow up fast. They were
called on to contribute to the meager family income by working full-

time or part-time, assuming they could find a job.

2 “There are no advantages in staying in school for my children,” one
parent said, “for we could not keep them there long enough to [become]

teachers or get enough education to do some other professional work,
so it is better for them to get to work early.”

3 “It’s better to go to work and bring money home,” agreed a mill
worker’s son, who had six brothers and sisters living at home. “Schools
are only for the rich. Poor people must work for their living.”

Kids at Work

4 Often it was the sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds who dropped out of
school to find work. But it wasn’t unusual to find much younger
children laboring long hours for little pay. Fourteen-year-old boys
worked in coal mines, twelve-year-old girls in knitting factories. Among

migrant farm workers, children as young as five or six labored in the
fields beside their parents, working from sunup to sundown.

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