Whilst the children of Upper Class families would be sent to private schools, or educated by tutors, the children of the lower classes had to work in order to contribute to their family income.

Children were put to work as soon as they were physically able and, until The Factory Act of 1844 was passed there was no control over the hours they worked.

Of course, only those children who were working for legitimate businesses were helped by this legislation—it still left thousands of children, often those who needed help the most, without any support.