Children working in a coal mine, Pittston, Pennsylvania, January 1911 by Lewis Hine. He took a whole series of photographs of children working in dangerous environments in America for the Child Labor Committee in the first decades of the 20th century.

Hiram Pulk aged 9, worked in a canning company. He told Hine, “I ain’t very fast only about 5 boxes a day. They pay about 5 cents a box.” August 1911 by Lewis Hine.

Boys at the Bibb Mill in Macon, Georgia, January 1909 by Lewis Hine. They were so small that they had to climb the spinning frame just to mend the broken threads and put back the empty bobbins. Serious injuries were commonplace.

Children working the evening shift, 9pm in an Indiana Glass Works factory, August 1908 by Lewis Hine.

Katie, 13 and Angeline 11, stitching Irish lace to make cuffs. They often worked late into the evening and were paid $1 a week. New York City, January 1912 by Lewis Hine.

Jennie Camillo aged 8 picking cranberries for a living at Theodore Budd’s Bog in New Jersey, September 1910 by Lewis Hine.

Rosy aged 8 shucking oysters, March 1911 by Lewis Hine. She worked from 3am to 5pm every day and told Hine the children started to work there as soon as they were old enough to hold a knife.

Manuel, the young shrimp-picker, five years old with a mountain of child-labour oyster shells behind him. Dunbar, Lopez, Dukate Company, Biloxi, Mississippi in 1911 by Lewis Hine.

This is where unfettered capitalism inevitably leads us, to the exploitation of the vulnerable to enrich the greedy. As we look at these images it may be worth considering where the materials which we use in our throwaway culture come from and how many children still work in

the supply chain for the items we take for granted. The problem hasn’t gone away it has simply been offshored.

A United Nations report estimated that in 2020 152 million children worldwide are still involved in child labour, with 73 million of these children carrying out hazardous work.

If you are reading this thread on a mobile device there is a good chance that the cobalt which was needed for its construction was mined using child labour. It is a problem which is all around us but we just don’t want to see it https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2016/06/drc-cobalt-child-labour/