Child Labor was a major problem in the early industrialization of the Western World, including the US and Great Britain. It put a lot of child in unnecessarily dangerous situations, out of which came a lot of deaths. By 1830 people were already complaining of how the children were being mistreated and misused. Since then the child labor laws have been drastically changed for the better protection of children.
There were many conditions that made people realize something had to be done with the work situation of children. Some were the 10 hour days in factories, working in coal mines, sweatshops and working with glass furnaces. This were very dangerous and hazardous jobs for anyone to hold, not just children.
Since 1993 New York State has had a very strict regulation for child labor. For instance, New York's laws are stricter than the national legislation that has been passed, which did really nothing stop child labor.
It simply does not allow children under 16 to work in interstate commerce areas. In New York the laws a based the time for a student to be in school. Students are only allowed to work 3 hours on school days and a maximum of either 18 or 28 depending on the age of the student. The laws are different when the student is not in school but are still strict to protect against the atrocities of early child labor.
There is really only one area of child labor where there is still a problem, this is farm-working. Its a problem because state laws in these areas are either lax or non-existent. Though, federal laws prevent children under 16 from working during school hours, they are worked long hours after school. Even still with all of this legislation being passed the number of injuries...