Description:For poor children the home was often a place of work, alongside their mother. Children as young as five contributed to the family’s income by helping with unskilled work such as tying up bundles of chopped wood. They were particularly useful for tasks that needed small quick fingers like ‘carding’ – sewing small items like safety pins, buttons or hooks and eyes onto cards. For girls the home was frequently a place of unpaid labour. They would do the housework and look after younger brothers and sisters.