Élites, patronat, travail des enfants et obligation scolaire en Belgique avant 1914

Can we live within environmental limits and still reduce poverty? Degrowth or decoupling?

“…Their lives were harsh: they worked in often terrible conditions, could not go to school, and often ended up physically broken before reaching adulthood. When pressure grew to ban child labour and make school mandatory, many thought it a bad idea: without child labour, total labour supply would drop, industrial production would decline, and the drop in income for poor families would increase poverty (Gubin, 2002). But many countries made school mandatory anyway.…”

“…We know that some important reforms have been implemented because they were supported by different groups for different reasons. The banning of child labour, for instance, was supported in Europe at the time by diverse coalitions (Gubin, 2002). For some, mandatory schooling would reduce criminality and was the best way to maintain social order and religious behaviours (and thus prevent revolutions and social unrest).…”