• Home
  • Thesis
  • Background
  • Workplace Struggles
  • Need for the NCLC
  • Formation of the NCLC
  • Exposing Child Labor
  • Changes To Sentiment
  • Failed Legislation
  • New Deal and Reform
  • Timeline
  • Conclusion
  • Paperwork
                   To Learn or to Earn?
    The National Child Labor Committee and the
             Fight to End Child Exploitation


Conclusion


"Our legacy is an incredibly strong one where we have played a role in helping million and millions of American children and their families to have hope, opportunity, and futures" -Jeffrey Newman, current president of the NCLC

Current Activities

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Current logo of the NCLC [National Child Labor Committee, 2010]
"Compared to conditions in 1904, when the National Child Labor Committee was founded, gratifying progress has been made. Still, child labor has not vanished from America. The NCLC is still carrying out its mission to combat violation of child-labor laws, and to promote the rights and dignity of children and youth" 
-Russell Freedman, Author of Kids At Work: Lewis Hine and the Crusade Against Child Labor [1994]
"We played an active role in not only creating child labor laws, but also in promoting opportunities for teenagers as they move into the world of work. Especially for inner city youth as they try to develop opportunities for their lives which start off often well behind many others" -Jeffrey Newman, current President of the NCLC (Student Conducted Interview)
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[National Child Labor Committee, 2010]
"Every year since 1985, the Committee has presented the Lewis Hine awards, recognizing the accomplishments of dedicated men and women who, like Hine himself, have helped change the lives of young people across the country" -Russell Freedman [1994]
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[National Child Labor Committee, 2010]

Child Labor Today

Click to enlarge and view captions
The fight against child  labor  still exists  in  many industrialized and developing countries around the world.  However, due to the NCLC's efforts to change the perception of child labor, many observers no longer simply accept child labor as  a necessity, but acknowledge it as an evil that needs to be eradicated. 
“Today a worldwide fight against child labor continues. According to the International Labour Organization, an estimated 250 million girls and boys between the ages of five and fourteen are exploited in sweatshops, farm fields, brothels, and on city streets. Most working children live in developing nations, but hundreds of thousands live in industrialized nations"

-Susan Campbell Bartoletti [1999]
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[Verisk Maplecroft, 2014]

The leadership and  initiative  of  the National Child Labor Committee  set  a powerful example for child labor movements around the world through its highly effective public exposure campaign.  Its legacy  is established as not only the eradication of child labor in the United States, but also  in its role  in creating a national opposition to child exploitation.

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Thesis: 
The leadership of the National Child Labor Committee piloted the social reform movement against the exploitation of children. By harnessing the power of propaganda to influence public opinion, the NCLC changed society’s perception, thus allowing for the passage of national legislation prohibiting the labor of children. The legacy of the NCLC lies not only in ending child labor,  but also in establishing a  precedent for  future federal regulation of labor. 
Niharika Boinpally and Divya Pakianathan
Senior Group Website
Word Count (Student Composed): 1166
Process Paper Word Count: 484