Occupations - Children

These graphs were extracted from the census records for people aged under 20 years. They show the proportion of children in three catagories. All those children with a defined occupation (except "Scholars") are grouped as "Working". Those with no occupation are grouped as "At home".

Schooling started at a young age but so did work.

The girls started Straw Plaiting at a young age.

In 1861 more boys were going to school.

In 1871 some girls started Straw Plaiting as young as 3 years of age.

In 1881 there was a big increase in children attending school.

The straw plaiting trade had died completely by 1881 so there wasn't a requirement for girls to work from a young age.

There is no record in the 1991 census of children attending school. If no occupation is given I have grouped them as being "At home"

The trend is towards starting work latter in life. This is, presumably, because children are staying at school longer.