Child workers are commonplace in historical sources but rarely feature in the grand narratives of economic history. Recently, however, new theories have identified changes in children’s economic value as key to economic and demographic trends in Britain but there has been little data with which to examine these putative effects. Prompted by these ideas, we present data on payments, both in cash and in kind, made to 3873 children from 1280 to 1860. Children’s wages show some similarities in their trajectories to those found for adults. Real wages increased after the Black Death and stayed at a high level through the C16th; but they then suffered a decline which was only checked in the mid-C18th and not reversed even when industrialisation was underway. Indeed, remuneration for child workers progressively fell away from that of unskilled adult males from the C16th. Until the late C17th, children working on annual contracts suffered the same disadvantage compared with day labourers as found for adults. Regression analysis controls for variation in our sample over time and reveals predictable relationships with key variables such as age, industry, sector and region. Children were an integral part of historic labour markets and their wages reflected economic factors. Knowledge of children’s work and wages helps illuminate aspects of recent theories on Britain’s historical growth.

中文翻译：

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英国的儿童工作和工资，1270-1860年

童工在历史资料中很常见，但很少出现在经济史的宏大叙事中。然而，最近，新的理论已将儿童经济价值的变化确定为英国经济和人口趋势的关键，但很少有数据可用来检验这些假定的影响。在这些想法的提示下，我们提供了1280年至1860年间向3873名儿童支付的现金和实物支付数据。儿童的工资与成年人的工资轨迹相似。黑死病之后，实际工资有所增加，并一直保持到16世纪的较高水平；但是后来遭受了下降，这种下降只有在18世纪中叶才得到遏制，即使在工业化进程中也没有逆转。确实，从16世纪起，针对童工的报酬逐渐低于不熟练的成年男性的报酬。直到C17世纪末，与年度劳动者相比，按年合同工作的儿童所遭受的不利影响与成年人相同。回归分析控制了样本随时间的变化，并揭示了与关键变量（例如年龄，行业，行业和地区）的可预测关系。儿童是历史悠久的劳动力市场的组成部分，其工资反映了经济因素。对儿童工作和工资的了解有助于阐明有关英国历史增长的最新理论。回归分析控制了样本随时间的变化，并揭示了与关键变量（例如年龄，行业，行业和地区）的可预测关系。儿童是历史悠久的劳动力市场的组成部分，其工资反映了经济因素。对儿童工作和工资的了解有助于阐明有关英国历史增长的最新理论。回归分析控制了样本随时间的变化，并揭示了与关键变量（例如年龄，行业，行业和地区）的可预测关系。儿童是历史悠久的劳动力市场的组成部分，其工资反映了经济因素。对儿童工作和工资的了解有助于阐明有关英国历史增长的最新理论。