In 1920s and 30s Shanghai, workers were seen as children until they turned 13, when they formally became adult workers, though older workers probably didn't view them as equals. There was nothing remarkable in this, that was the global norm at the time.
Hildren of the destitute majority started working as soon as they could. Everybody had to pitch in to secure the survival of the family. From they were 4-5 years old, they had to help out at home. Many also had to beg or search for usual scrap in the waste piles that could be sold to earn money for the family. There was also a large number of orphans who had to fend for themselves.
Starting at 6-8 years old, a lot of children got work in the factories. Almost a tenth of the children in the vast cotton industry were children, with even more in the silk industry where their delicate fingers allowed them to better handle the fragile coccoons. But child labor was common to all sectors of the economy. Children could among other things sweep, change the spools or generally help out such as with fetching things.
Many children were sold as laborers by their parents. This was a centuries old tradition in China, but the desperate times made it more prevalent than ever before. Starting in the 1930s, a whole institution of child buyers who was sent to the nearby villages was establish. In exchange for the money paid their parents, the children were to work for a set number of years before gaining their freedom again. The children were packed together in crowded tenements and set to work long, hard hours. They frequently died of malnutrition and disease such as tuberculosis after a short period.
Most of the children sold were girls. The silk industry only employed girls and boys had higher status and were viewed as more helpful for farm labor, so they were often left with their parents.
A large number of girls were also sold to prostitution and it was common to sell girls as future brides. This way the groom's family gained a free servant for a number of years.
Drenge der arbejder som barberer på en af Shanghais gader.