Page:Solution of the Child Labor Problem.djvu/59

52 for eleven hours a day and giving them an attitude wholly independent of home control, or it may stunt them physically or mentally, thus making them incapable of fulfilling the functions of fathers and mothers, of home-makers and home-keepers. In either case, child labor thwarts the purpose of the home.

In some localities all of the members of the family work in the mill. Many such instances are furnished in the South, where industry is developing for the first time. There it is customary for the children to work in the mill with both parents. If one remains outside of the mill, it is apt to be the father. Under these conditions the mother has no opportunity to maintain a family standard. She starts out with the children early in the morning, and, after spending ten or eleven hours at the factory, returns to the home to partake of the hastily and probably badly prepared meal, remains only long enough to sleep and eat, and then hurries back to the mill. If the children have any leisure time, they spend it on the streets, for the home presents no attractions.