The book surveys conditions, pay, and the social cost of home-based labor across several countries, including England, Germany, France, and the United States, through real accounts and official testimony.

In this edition, you’ll read about the lives of home-workers in clothing, cardboard and match-box making, and small crafts like carding hooks and eyes. It pulls from committee reports and inspector testimony to show how low pay, long hours, and precarious living conditions shaped the everyday work of thousands of women, men, and children who toiled at home rather than in factories.

Real-world examples of wage rates, piece-work, and the risks of illness, crowded spaces, and poor ventilation.
The role of middlemen who distribute work and take large commissions, often leaving workers with little income.
The contrast between home-work today and factory-work regulations, with notes on laws and reforms in various countries.
Personal accounts from inspectors and witnesses that illustrate the human cost behind each “box,” card, or garment.

Ideal for readers of labor history, social reform, and essays on workers’ rights, this work sheds light on how and why sweat occurred and what reforms aimed to improve conditions hoped to change.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

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