Which country started child labor?

Child labor began about the same time that children first made an appearance. For centuries past, it was perfectly normal for children to work. Children would typically work in agriculture or in the family's craft or profession. This was a time when there was no school to attend and a child's education was in the care of a mother or father. Skills and trades were passed from generation to generation in this way.

In more recent times, at the time of industrialization, children were employed as unskilled and low cost labor. Without the immediate protection of the family, working conditions for children were worse than for pre-industrial children.

Over the course of the last century or so, the Western world has controlled and limited child labor to the point where it is difficult for a child to find even part time work. In other parts of the world, it is still common to see children at work although pressure from the Western consumers is having an impact on child labor globally.