Lagstiftning mot barnarbete i Sverige 1840-1900 : En kvalitativ studie om lagstiftning mot barnarbete i svensk fabriksindustri

Sammanfattning: During the 19th century, legislation against child labour became relevant in Sweden. Child labour in the Swedish factory industry was noticed because of the tangible importance of child labour in the swedish factory industry. The period 1840-1900 was a period characterized by a major change in legislation against child labour and many new legislations were established. In 1881, one of the most well-known regulations against child labour in Swedish manufactory was established. The regulation was a reform of the Swedish legislation against child labour and it was a result of a 40-year legislative process.  This second term paper aims to examine how the Swedish legislative process developed during the period 1840-1900, which laws were established and how they changed the Swedish legislation against child labour up to the 1881 regulation. Furthermore this paper aims to examine how the 1881 regulation was complied with and which factors influenced whether the law was complied with or not. The result of the essay showed that there was a close connection between the various legislations that were established during the period 1840-1900, there was a clear path dependece through the legislative process. Education was an aspect that remained important in the legislation. The regulation of 1881 was not enforced to the extent it was intended to be. This study has shiwn that the main reason for non-compliance was due to the lack of control of compliance with the regultaion. The resistance to the law from factory owners and traders has also been shown to be factors that negatively affected compliance with the law.