raiderup, the world, and society, are indeed a-changing.
Great Wall are now setting up a factory in Bulgaria to manufacture Chinese cars in Europe.
As for going back to Dickensian days, I think we probably have gone too far the other way. My daughter would be quite happy to work for a week for free, both to check that she liked the job, and for the employer to see how good she is. But that's not possible under legislation.