THE DECLINE OF CHILD LABOR IN THE UNITED-STATES FRUIT AND VEGETABLE CANNING INDUSTRY - LAW OR ECONOMICS

Child labor in the U.S. economy declined significantly between 1880 an d 1920. This case study of the fruit and vegetable canning industry ex amines variations in laws, technology, and income across states and ti me to assess the relative importance of legal and economic factors in reducing the employment of children. The authors find that economic fa ctors, especially a technologically driven shift toward a greater dema nd for adult labor, were relatively more important. While economic dev elopment was often a precondition for legal restrictions on child labo r, compulsory schooling and child labor laws restricted the employment of children in technologically backward canneries.