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Child and Youth Labour in the Spanish Mining Sector: 1860-1940

Author

Listed:
  • Miguel Á. Pérez de Perceval Verde

    (Universidad de Murcia, Murcia, Spain)

  • Ángel Pascual Martínez Soto

    (Universidad de Murcia, Murcia, Spain)

  • Andrés Sánchez Picón

    (Universidad de Almería, Almería, Spain)

Abstract

This paper analyses the employment of children in the Spanish mining sector at the highest point of its history (golden age). The main source used is Spain’s official Mining Statistics that show that child labour was widely used throughout the Spanish peninsula: an average of 14-17% of total workers between 1860 and 1920. Subsequently, the incidence of child labour reduced steadily and by 1930 had fallen to below 9%. The changes were not a direct result of the legislation that had become increasingly restrictive since 1900, but were brought about by factors related to the organisation of the different activities involved in mining. Furthermore, there was a significant territorial bias whereby south-eastern areas (particularly the provinces of Murcia and Almeria) were characterised by very high levels of child labour (an average of 30% in the second half of the nineteenth century). The paper examines the factors that determine this different distribution, analysing both the specific aspects of child labour and the reasons for using this type of workforce. In addition, the accounts of some of the mines in these two provinces have been used in order to study the evolution of child wages which provides further information to help us understand the mining organisation models. Finally, a case study from the 1870s is presented which measures the contribution that the mining children made to the family economy, with results remarkably similar to those of studies of English and American industrial districts in the nineteenth century.

Suggested Citation

  • Miguel Á. Pérez de Perceval Verde & Ángel Pascual Martínez Soto & Andrés Sánchez Picón, 2013. "Child and Youth Labour in the Spanish Mining Sector: 1860-1940," Documentos de Trabajo (DT-AEHE) 1310, Asociación Española de Historia Económica.
  • Handle: RePEc:ahe:dtaehe:1310
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hugh Cunningham, 2000. "The decline of child labour: labour markets and family economies in Europe and North America since 1830[I am indeb]," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 53(3), pages 409-428, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Child labour; Spanish mining; labour legislation; mining wages;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N3 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy
    • L71 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Primary Products and Construction - - - Mining, Extraction, and Refining: Hydrocarbon Fuels
    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General

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