Child labour played an important role in the Industrial Revolution from its outset, often brought about by <answer>economic hardship</answer>. The children of the poor were expected to contribute to their family income. In 19th-century Great Britain, one-third of poor families were without a breadwinner, as a result of death or abandonment, obliging many children to work from a young age. In England and Scotland in 1788, two-thirds of the workers in 143 water-powered cotton mills were described as children. A high number of children also worked as prostitutes. The author Charles Dickens worked at the age of 12 in a blacking factory, with his family in debtor's prison.
During the Industrial Revolution what was the main driving force behind child labour?
economic hardship