The dilemma in saving children from child labor: reform and casework at odds with families' needs (1900-1938).

Early in this century, reformers lobbied for regulation of child labor and compulsory school attendance. This article draws on their publications, agency case records, professional literature, and historical studies to examine the role of social workers in implementing the new reforms and the reactions of parents and children in low-income households who were affected by the legislative changes. The precarious nature of family self-sufficiency and social workers' ambivalence toward child labor led to conflict between professionals and client families. Missing at the time was professional acknowledgment of economic security for families as a fundamental necessity for children's welfare.