ABSTRACT
This chapter talks about the decline of industrial child labour from the perspective of the demand for child workers. It discusses that labour productivity, today a topical issue in the economy as a whole, but less so in terms of the history of child labour, deserves reconsideration as an explanation for employers' declining interest in using children. The chapter describes that Myron Weiner's conclusion that 'child labor laws proved to be unenforceable unless all children were required to attend school' needs to be qualified. Internal subcontracting of the labour force and managerial paternalism were strategies that were adopted to overcome monitoring and discipline difficulties. Cheap-labour economy was another factor that made manufacturers rely heavily on a labour force with weak or no bargaining power, such as women and children and tied labour. Children's work in the mechanised textile industries, particularly cotton, has probably attracted more attention than any other form of child labour.
