It probly was not all beer and skittles for some younger workers, however many were indentured in trades that enabled them to find employment thence to provide food and accommodation for themselves and their families for the rest of their lives.

A local retired man was an Admiral in the British Navy who commanded an aircraft carrier during the Korean War, he said he went to the British Naval College at Dartmouth when he was 11 yrs old.

Many kids in abusive households would welcome the prospect of "getting a job," it is only when abuse or bullying takes place in the workplace things get tough .. trade unions were formed to step in and prevent excesses of this kind.