Science as an early driver of policy: Child labor reform in the early progressive era, 1870-1900

F. Perera

American Journal of Public Health, 2014, vol. 104, issue 10, 1862-1871

Abstract: Scientific evidence is an increasingly important driver of social and environmental policy concerning child health. This trend began earlier than generally recognized. The child labor reform movement of the Gilded Age and early Progressive Era reflected not only moral and economic forces but also the dramatic advances during the later decades of the 19th century in scientific knowledge concerning children's biological and psychological vulnerability to environmental and psychosocial stressors. The growing importance of scientific information in shaping policy concerning children's health between 1870 and 1900 is illustrated by the events leading up to and following the New York State Child Labor Law of 1886. Child labor reform during this period was a critical step in the development of a science-based as well as a valuedriven movement to protect children's environmental health and well-being that continues today.

Keywords: article; child; employment; environmental exposure; ethics; family; history; human; legal aspect; morality; occupational exposure; research; social change; socioeconomics; United States, Child; Employment; Environmental Exposure; Family; History, 19th Century; History, 20th Century; Humans; Morals; New York; Occupational Exposure; Research; Social Change; Socioeconomic Factors (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2014.302030_6

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2014.302030

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