The value of wartime boy labour

In 1915 shortage of harvest labour saw schoolboys being released from study to help with farm work. The issue over whether this should be paid work arose and the President of the Board of Education, Mr. Henderson, showed wisdom in his instruction: “…local education authorities which take responsibility of excusing boys from school in order to serve the special needs of the country in the present emergency cannot reasonably disclaim responsibility for seeing that fair wages are paid to the boys this exceptionally excused from attendance.”

The reasoning was, “unless it is worth the while of the employer to pay something substantial for the services of the boy, those services could not be of substantial value to the country, and that, in the interests of the boy and of the country as a whole he had better be at school.”